THE  LIBRARY 

OF 

THE  UNIVERSITY 
OF  CALIFORNIA 

LOS  ANGELES 


MODEM  REFORM  EXAMINED; 


OB, 


THE  UNION  OF  NORTH  AND  SOUTH 


ON   THE 


SUBJECT  OF  SLAVERY. 


BY    JOSEPH    O.    STILES. 


PHILADELPHIA : 
J.    B.    LIPPINCOTT    &    CO.,   PUBLISHERS, 

NOS,  22  <k  84  NORTH  FOURTH  STREET. 

1858. 


ENTERED,  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1857,  by 
JOSEPH  C.  STILES, 

in  the  Clerk's  Office  of  the  District  Court  of  the  United  States  for 
the  Southern  District  of  New- York. 


INTRODUCTION. 


YEARS  have  passed  since  I  dwelt  on  the  territory  of  the 
Third  Presbytery  of  the  City  of  New- York,  of  which  I  am  a 
member.  I  have  consequently  been  denied  the  privilege  of 
attending  many  of  its  sessions  during  that  period.  I  especially 
regret  my  absence  from  its  last  five  meetings,  devoted  as  they 
were  mainly  to  the  discussion  of  the  late  movement  of  the 
American  Home  Missionary  Society  respecting  slaveholding 
churches.  That  movement  of  my  brethren  of  the  Society  I  do 
not  approve.  Since,  therefore,  my  Presbytery  deemed  it  pro- 
per to  send  to  the  General  Assembly  a  strong  vote  in  its  sup- 
port, I  rejoice  in  that  moderation  which  finally  declined  to  pass 
the  commendatory  resolutions  so  elaborately  discussed. 

Indeed,  so  deep  has  been  my  interest  in  that  great  question 
which  agitates  all  society  in  our  day — which  lies  at  the  foun- 
dation of  diversities,  Denominational  as  well  as  Presbyterial — 
and  which  has  so  recently  once  more  divided  our  unhappy 
Church — that  I  do  respectfully  solicit  of  my  brethren  of  the 
Presbytery  and  of  my  Christian  brethren  and  countrymen  at 
large,  the  privilege  of  laying  before  them  some  general  views 
upon  this  subject. 

I  am  alive  to  all  the  uncomfortableness  of  this  step — the 
seeming  forwardness  yet  painful  publicity — the  apparent  vol- 
untary contribution  to  the  controversy  —  the  necessity  of 
decided  disapproval  of  sentiments  so  warmly  espoused  by  many 
excellent  men — nor  would  I  forget  the  possibility,  that  the 
grand  error,  after  all,  may  be  rather  with*  myself  than  with 
my  brethren. 


1397923 


SZ, 


iy  INTRODUCTION. 

Notwithstanding  all  this,  strong  conviction,  and  the  hope  of 
serving  the  cause  of  God  and  man,  prompt  me  to  commend  my- 
self to  our  common  Master,  and  proceed  at  once  to  the  dis- 
charge of  the  duty  undertaken. 

The  title  of  the  Book  needs  a  word  of  explanation.  The 
phrase,  "Modern  Reform,"  is  a  little  abstract ;  but  it  suggests 
the  exceptionable  character  of  the  Reformation  spirit  of  our 
day,  and  avoids  the  unwelcome  synonym — "Abolitionism." 

The  phrase,  "Union  of  North  and  South"  may  seem  a  little 
high-sounding.  The  reader  will  relieve  himself  by  interpret- 
ing it,  not  as  asserting  an  achievement,  but  suggesting  a  princi- 
ple. And  yet  the  reader  will  be  deceived  if  he  looks  for  a 
logical  argument  direct  to  the  point  of  union.  I  have  but  lit- 
tle experience,  but  venture  to  presume  that  books  are  not  often 
written  to  fit  titles.  He  who  would  unite  the  North  and  the 
South  should  address  himself  to  a  three-fold  work — examine 
and  refute  extreme  Anti-Slavery  views — set  back  liberty  and 
slavery  to  their  just  and  proper  bounds  in  the  public  mind — 
and  press  the  grounds  of  conciliatory  appeal.  This  is  a  tolera- 
bly fair  representation  of  the  topics  discussed — but  they  have 
not  been  evolved  by  the  prosecution  of  a  preconcerted  plan  to 
conciliate  dissensions.  The  two  last  topics,  just  views  of  lib- 
erty and  slavery,  and  political  and  Christian  union,  spring  up 
rather  in  the  way  of  natural  suggestions  or  impromptu  im- 
provement by  a  mind — set  to  work  to  examine  extreme  Anti- 
Slavery  views.  (Italics,  in  quotations,  are  often  my  own.) 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER    I. 
PREUMIXARY  OBSERVATIONS, 9 

There  are  four  classes  of  relations  amonir  men,  which  involve  the 
exercise  of  authority.  Those— right  in  their  nature,  possibly  wrong 
in  their  circumstances — Government—  Wron g  in  their  nature,  pos- 
sibly right  iii  their  circumstances — Slaveholding —  Wrong  in  their 
nature— only  tolerable  under  peculiar  circumstances — Polygamy — 
So  wrong  in  their  nature  as  to  be  intolerable  under  any  circum- 
stances— Stave-making. 

There  are  four  explanatory  states  of  humanity.  The  first  two  are 
developed  in  time.  The  original  constitution  of  things,  and  the 
fall  from  it.  Just  views  f>f  slavery,  partially  dependent  upon  our 
consideration  of  it,  as  connected  with  man's  primary  or  secondary 
state.  In  the  former,  alaveholding  must  be  sinful — in  the  latter, 
may  be  justifiable. 

Mind  liable  to  epidemics  as  well  as  body.  Extreme  national  senti- 
ment upon  the  subject  of  Slavery — a  probable  illustration.  The 
merits  of  this — Modern  Reform — I  propose  to  examine.  Prepara- 
tory explanations. 

CHAPTER  n. 
MODERN  REFORM — ARROGANT, 16 

Defined.    Modern  Reform — precise  opposite  of  true  reformation. 

First  qualification  of  a  true  reformer — undeniable  rectitude — Modern 
Reform  arrogates  infinite  superiority  in — character — but  does  not 
exhibit  this  superiority  either  in— spirit  or  conduct — in  doctrine — 
but  its  distinguishing  doctrine — slaveholding  necessarily  sinful — 
overthrown  by — the  law  of  love — the  law  of  natural  rights  and 
the  word  of  God.  Bible  discountenances  doctrine — by  its  general 
teachings — permanent  codes— and  God's  treatment  of  masters  and 
slaves  in  the  Old  World  and  the  New — Bible  disproves — doctrine—- 
by God's  direction  concerning  the  manner  of  forming  the  relation — 
commands  respecting  the  conduct  of  the  parties — injunctions— em- 
bracing the  substance  of  the  relation — recognition  of  the  rights  of 
the  relation— address  to  New  Testament  masters — and  to  all 
masters  in  the  word  of  God — and  especially — bv  the  explicit 
teaching  of  Christ  and  his  Apostles. 


yi  CONTENTS. 

This  evidence  does  not  prove  slavery  to  be,  in  itself,  a  desirable  insti- 
tution— but  does  prove — the  Modern  Reform  enterprise  destitute 
of  the  first  property  of  genuine  reformation — undeniable  recti- 
tude—in character  and  sentiment. 

CHAPTER  III. 
MALIGNANT, 29 

Malignity  of—  indicated — by  the  voluntary  charge  of  deadly  sin — 
without  reasonable  proof— by  a  distant  accuser — against  a  multi- 
tude of  irreproachable  persons :  corroborated — by  the  accuser's 
moral  incapacity  of  appreciating  the  imperative  proprieties  of  the 
case :  confirmed— by  his  hard,  unrelenting  perpetuation  of  the 
charge^— and  sealed — by  his  repetition  of  it  at  all  times,  ou  all  occa- 
sions, in  all  methods,  and  prevailingly  with  the  most  determined, 
reckless,  and  bitter  violence. 

CHAPTER  IV. 
BELLIGERENT,  . 39 

That  Anti-Slavery  men  early  exchanged  persuasion  fbr  compulsion — 
is  a  fact — demanded  by  the  history  of  the  enterprise — exhibited  in 
the  temper  of  its  advocates — demonstrated  by  the  language  and 
measures  employed — and  experienced  by  all  who  withhold  their 
cooperation. 

CHAPTER  Y. 

IMPRACTICABLE 53 

The  fanaticism  of  the  Reformer  is  so  incurably  self-reliant,  contracted, 
intolerant,  belligerent,  and  reckless — that,  he  holds  it — no  answer, 
to  his  charge  of  sin  in  slaveholding,  that  emancipation  would  bo 
destruction — no  abatement  of  his  charge  of  violating  the  liberty  of 
the  colored  man — that  the  South  has  expended  near  $150,000^000 
in  freeing  their  slaves — while  he — a  participant  in  the  obligation — 
has  taken  but  a  feeble  part  in  the  performance — no  mitigation  of 
his  charge  of  invading  the  spiritual  liberties  of  the  slave — that  the 
South  has  been  the  means  of  converting  hundreds  of  thousands  of 
their  souls— while  he,  a  participant  in  the  duty,  is  cutting  off  his 
last  scanty  supplies  of  Christian  means,  liberally  granted  to  tho 
heathen — no  offset  to  his  outcry  against  the  neglect  of  the  South 
to  put  away  the  sin  of  slavery — that  he  himself  is  yet  more  inac- 
tive— in  renouncing  sins  more  decidedly  anti-scriptural  —  and 
flnally-T-that  to  his  last  charge — that  the  South  will  not  suffer  tho 


CONTENTS.  Vil 

Gospel  to  be  preached  within  her  borders — he  flies  into  a  passion — 
if  you  state  the  rigid  truth — that  his  serious  accusation  fluds  the 
only  offender  in  himself. 

CHAPTER  VL 
DESTRCCTTVB, 76 

The  demonstration  of  this  property  of  Modern  Reform  li<m  in — its 
principle — for  it  employs  the  antagonist  of  every  moral  influence — 
and  in  its  action — for  its  work  is  disaster — and  proves  itself  to  be 
such,  whether  you  consider — its  field — for  it  distracts  the  coun- 
try—or its  beneficiary — for  it  obstructs  both  the  liberty  and  the 
religion  of  the  slave— or  the  means — for  it  wounds  the  Bible,  the 
pulpit,  and  the  Church— or  the  resultf — for  it  fetters  every  agent  of 
reformation  at  home  or  abroad. 

CHAPTER  VIL 
MORAL  ESTIMATE, 163 

The  Reform  enterprise — in  conception — is  a  mistake ;  in  spirit — an 
immorality ;  in  operation — a  mischief.  It  sets  out  to  do  a  work — 
Analyzed— as  an  agent,  it  employs  assumption,  unkindness,  bel- 
ligerence— and  obstinacy — to  accomplish  the  task  of  rectitude, 
benevolence,  instruction,  and  docility.  It  throws  itself  before  the 
eye  of  the  public.  Mark  its  appearance — it  exhibits  too  much  na- 
ture and  too  little  grace,  too  much  glitter  and  too  little  gold,  too 
much  fury  and  too  little  force.  It  has  undertaken  to  accomplish 
a  work  in  the  kingdom  of  God — but  it  lacks  the  disposition — for  it 
has  but  little  love — and  the  ability — for  its  intelligence  is  of  no 
use  here. 

CHAPTER  VHL 
REMEDIAL  SUGGESTIONS, 170 

I.  Study  enlarged  and  just  views  of  liberty  and  slavery. 

In  a  secular  point  of  view — 

Independently — tho  one  is  the  brightest  of  rights  and  blessings  ;  the 
other,  tho  darkest  of  crimes  and  curses. 

Relatively — Circumstances  may  make  emancipation  the  crime  and  the 
curse,  and  slave-holding  the  duty  and  the  blessing. 

In  a  spiritual  point  of  view — 

While  natural  liberty  sinks  into  tho  most  inexpressible  insignificance, 
when  contrasted  with  the  surpassing  worth  and  obligation  of  spirit- 
ual liberty,  natural  slavery  operates  no  necessary  obstruction  to  tho 


viii  CONTENTS. 

coaversion  of  the  soul,  but  is  often  made  by  Divine  wisdom  to  con- 
duce gloriously  to  the  salvation  of  men. 
II.   Cherish  kind  sentiments  towards  the  South. 

1.  The  obligation  of  fraternal  cooperation  on  the  part  of  the  North 
is  suggested  by  the  very  nature  of  that  grand  missionary  plan  in- 
augurated by  overruling  providence  in  connection  with  the  intro- 
duction of  Africans  into  the  South. 

2.  There  prevails  no  class  of  American  sentiment  opposed  to  slavery 
which  can  reach  the  good  it  seeks,  except  through  the  kind  coope- 
ration of  the  North  with  the  South  in  carrying  out  God's  pl;m. 

3.  The  only  way  of  discharging  the  nation's  great  duties,  averting 
the  nation's  great  evils,  , and  securing  the  nation's  great  ble 

lies  precisely  in  the  kind  cooperation  of  the  North  with  the  Sun1  i 
in  the  faithful  fulfillment  of  God's  great  Afrieo-American  missionary 
enterprise. 

CHAPTER  IX. 
FRATERXAL  EXHORTATION, 244 

Abolition  brother.  Is  it  not  an  argument  against  the  rectitude  of 
your  type  of  Anti-Slavery  sentiment,  that  while  so  many  unholy 
feelings  are  started  in  your  heart  by  your  peculiar  views,  the  deeply 
pious  promptings  of  your  soul  always  spring  up  in  other  connec- 
tions? If  your  religion  will  not  associate  with  your  Anti-Slavery, 
can  your  Anti-Slavery  be  religious? 

My  Christian  brother,  traveling  toward  Abolitionism.  You  are  in 
peril,  pressed  by  a  strong  adverse  power,  yet  destitute  of  an  ade- 
quate brace  against  the  pressure.  Protect  your  mind  by  ample 
instruction  concerning  the  unchristian  character  of  the  Reform  en- 
terprise. Your  influence  has  been  injurious,  through  indirect  coun- 
tenance of  extreme  men  and  measures.  Discharge  duty  and  do 
good  by  cherishing  the  kindest  regard  for  every  Reformer,  but  ex- 
pressing the  most  decided  disapprobation  of  his.spirit  and  princi- 
ple on  all  proper  occasions. 

APPENDIX. 

Northern   and  Southern  Committees  on  "  Migration  and 

Importation,"        .         .        .        .         ...        .         .  273 

Anti-Slavery  Violence, 274-276 

Southern  Emancipation — Colored  Membership  and  Incendi- 
ary Publications,  277-27S 

Southern  Slave  Law, ?78— 297 

Northern  Slave  Law, 297-309 

Dr.  Adams'  South-Side  View — Opinion  of  African  Mission- 
aries,           309-310 


CHAPTER  I. 

PRELIMINARY  OBSERVATIONS. 

THE  universe  holds  only  one  free  Being — God  over 
all !  Subordination  is  the  grand  law  of  all  created 
mind.  In  subjection  to  authority, lies  the  only  escape 
from  the  evils  of  anarchy — confusion,  crime,  and 
calamity :  the  only  passport  to  the  welfare  of  the 
community — virtue,  order,  and  salvation. 

Human  society  presents  four  grades  of  rectitude  in 
the  authority  exercised  by  man  over  his  fellow-men. 
There  are  relations  involving  authority — right  in 
their  nature,  though  sometimes  wrong  in  their  cir-* 
cumstances — relations  wrong  in  their  nature,  which 
may  yet  be  right  in  their  circumstances — relations 
wrong  in  their  nature,  and  only  tolerable  under  pe- 
culiar circumstances — and  relations  so  utterly  vicious 
in  their  nature,  as  never  to  be  tolerated  under  any 
circumstances. 

The  first  class  consists  of  four  species.    Such  as 
have  their  foundation  in  divine  institution — as,  Pastor 
and  People ;    in  human  structure — as,  Parent  and 
1* 


10  MODERN  REFORM. 

Child ;  in  human  structure  and  divine  ordinance — as, 
Husband  and  Wife ;  and  in  social  necessity  and  di- 
vine institution — as,  Magistrate  and  People.  These 
constitute  the  only  natural  and  permanent  sources  of 
authority  in  the  family  of  man. 

The  second  class  finds  a  specimen  in  the  relation 
of  Master  and  Servant.  In  general  this  is  &  condi- 
tion of  human  society  which,  in  its  origin,  all  must 
acknowledge  a  most  heinous  offense  in  the  sight  of 
God  and  man;  but  its  perpetuation,  under  certain 
circumstances,  constitutes  the  only  discharge  of  the 
great  duty  incumbent  on  the  one  party — the  only 
protection  of  the  great  right  possessed  by  the  other. 
The  relation  of  master  and  servant  has  its  origin  and 
its  apology  in  man's  fall,  and  will  be  swept  away  in 
the  progress  of  the  Gospel. 

The  third  class  is  represented  by  Polygamy  —  a 
relation  never  right,  either  in  its  nature  or  its  circum- 
stances. All  that  can  be  said  in  its  behalf  is  tnis — 
time  was  when  God  tolerated  it.  This  relation  does 
not  belong  to  the  second  class,  though  always  located 
in  this  category.  There  are  three  things  decisively 
peculiar  to  polygamy.  God  never  so  far  arranged 
for  its  introduction  amongst  a  people,  as  to  direct 
where  a  man  should  go  to  find  his  many  wives.  This 
God  did  do  touching  the  master  and  his  slaves. 
Again :  God  never  drew  up  a  code  of  laws  regulat- 
ing the  duties  of  the  one  husband  to  his  many  wives, 
on  the  one  hand,  nor  of  the  many  wives  to  the  one 
husband,  on  the  other.  This  God  has  done  in  the 


PRELIMINARY   OBSERVATIONS.  11 

case  of  master  and  slave.  Finally:  God  substan- 
tially pronounces  Polygamy  a  sin,  both  in  the  Old 
Testament  and  in  the  New,  and  dismisses  it  forth- 
with from  the  •world.  This  God  has  not  done  in  re- 
gard to  slavery,  either  in  the  Old  Testament  or  in  the 
New. 

The  fourth  class  consists  of  connections  instituted 
by  bad  men  for  the  sole  purpose  of  perpetrating  ini- 
quity. Such  as  Slave-making,  Piracy,  etc.  Under 
all  circumstances,  all  such  relations  are  insufferable. 

Humanity  has  four  grand  states.  The  last  two  lie 
in  the  future — -judgment  and  retribution.  The  first 
two  have  been  developed  in  time — the  original  con- 
stitution of  things  and  man's  fall  from  it.  Our  views 
of  slavery,  I  judge,  should  vary,  as  we  place  our 
stand-point  in  the  first  temporal  condition  of  things 
or  the  second.  Man's  Author,  structure,  relations, 
and  end,  proclaim  this  truth — God  made  every  man 
the  proprietor  of  tKe  same  rights,  and  subject  to  the 
same  duties. 

Under  the  original  -constitution  of  things^  be  the 
circumstances  what  they  may,  the  existence  of  slavery 
would  seem  to  us  as  inconceivable  as  the  sin  of  slave- 
ry would  be  insufferable.  The  moment  man  fell 
two  changes  take  place.  The  first  palpable  change 
is  this :  slavery,  inconceivable  in  the  first  condition 
of  things,  comes  into  existence  very  naturally  in  the 
second.  Man  will  introduce  it.  He  now  seeks  him- 
self supremely,  and  hating  labor,  in  his  superior 
strength,  will  force  the  weaker  to  work  for  him.  God 


12  MODERN   REFORM. 

will  introduce  it.  If  to  express  his  displeasure  with 
sinning  man  he  introduces  earthquake,  tempest,  pes- 
tilence, famine,  and  war,  it  is  perfectly  natural  that 
he  should  employ  this  unnatural  institution,  and 
many  other  similar  evils,  for  the  same  purpose.* 
The  second  palpable  change  is  this :  slavery,  so  ne- 
cessarily sinful  in  the  first  condition  of  humanity, 
may  be  entirely  free  from  sin  in  the  second.  The 
sinful  conduct  of  man  may  justify  bondage  both  tem- 
porary and  permanent.  It  is  ascertained  with  abso- 
lute certainty,  that  the  captain  and  his  crew  have 
plotted  to  put  every  passenger  to  death,  take  posses- 
sion of  the  ship,  and  become  pirates  on  the  high  sea. 
Nay,  they  have  commenced  their  work  of  murder. 
The  passengers  rise,  subdue  their  enemies,  put  them 
in  irons,  sternly  compel  them  to  navigate  the  ship 
into  port,  and  then  give  them  up  to  the  laws  of  the 
country,  whereby  they  are  condemned  to  involuntary 
hard  labor  for  life.  Who  doubte  for  one' moment, 
that  God's  law  of  love  to  your  neighbor  either  justi- 
fies the  temporary  captivity  of  these  fellow-men  at 
first,  or  their  subsequent  slavery  for  life  ?  In  like 
manner,  the  utter  incapacity  of  the  subject,  in  the 
view  of  wisdom  and  benevolence,  may  justify  his 
continuance  in  a  state  of  involuntary  servitude. 

Why  is  it  that  all  men  do  not  instantly  discern  and 
acknowledge  these  plain  truths  ?  Why  is  it  that,  on 
this  and  other  subjects,  our  fellow-men  do  sometimes 

*  Does  he  not  employ  it  to  evangelize  the  heathen  ?    Gen.  17 : 12, 13. 


PRELIMINARY   OBSERVATIONS.  13 

seem  to  exhibit  a  singular  and  incurable  perverse- 
ness  ?  Is  not  man's  mind  as  subject  to  epidemics  as 
his  body  ?  Corrupt  the  atmosphere,  and  a  multitude 
of  physical  constitutions  shall  imbibe  the  poison,  and 
exhibit  the  feet  by  the  most  unquestionable  marks. 
In  the  bosom  of  valuable  truth  throw  out  some  cap- 
tivating error,  and  there  shall  spring  up  in  society 
an  unwholesome  spirit,  marked  by  a  class  of  symp- 
toms as  well  defined  as  those  of  the  measles  or  the 
small-pox.  Like  physical  epidemics,  mental  distem- 
per outworks  conservative  forces,  works  strongest  in 
elements  most  akin  to  itself,  and  always  works  its 
likeness  upon  the  subject  of  its  operation. 

One  of  the  boldest  encroachments  upon  a  sound 
public  mind  in  our  day,  is  the  KEFORM  SPIRIT,  or 
SPIRIT  OF  PROGRESS,  so  called. 

This  Reform  temper  first  fastens  upon  some  preva- 
lent evil  in  society,  and  then  fires  itself  with  such  an 
extreme  horror  of  its  sins  and  mischiefs,  as  can  not 
endure  the  slow  process  of  legitimate  means,  and 
would  therefore  hurry  its  victim  to  destruction  by 
the  most  vigorous  and  violent  powers  it  can  com- 
mand. The  moral  character  of  this  agent  is  mixed. 
Ordinarily,  it  is  right  in  its  object  and  its  energy,  but 
wrong  in  its  temper  and  its  measures.  It  carries 
upon  its  face  philanthropy,  intrepidity,  vigor ;  but  is 
often  embittered  by  a  heart  of  willfulness,  intolerance, 
and  violence.  Many  are  unaffected  by  it,  as  many  are 
controlled  by  it ;  while  the  greater  number,  severally, 
exhibit  every  degree  of  its  influence  intermediate  be- 


14  MODERN  REFORM. 

tween  these  extremes.  The  principle  and  the  peace 
of  Church  and  State  are  sufficiently  involved  by  the 
prevalence  and  direction  of  this  mighty  agent,  to 
demand  its  moral  analysis. 

I  shall  ask  your  attention  to  its  most  prominent 
demonstration  in  the  EXTREME  ANTI-SLAVERY  MOVE- 
MENT of  the  day. 

Before  I  embark  upon  this  discussion,  I  beg  leave 
to  record  a  few  explanations.  Let  it  be  understood, 
that  from  commencement  to  conclusion,  I  am  confin- 
ing myself  to  the  examination  of  the  extremest  class 
of  Anti-Slavery  sentiment  prevalent  in  the  country 
at  this  day. — Let  it  be  remembered,  also,  that  I  do 
not  question  for  a  moment  the  high  degree  of  per- 
sonal piety  exhibited  by  many  of  those  who  enter- 
tain these  sentiments,  especially  such  as  have  enjoyed 
no  opportunities  of  personal  observation,  but  have 
been  perpetually  plied  with  all  the  extravagances 
which  such  a  spirit  must  enlist. — I  may  be  condemn- 
ed for  an  inadequate  censure  of  the  obliquities  of  the 
South,  and  perhaps  justly.  I  solicit,  however,  the 
kind  remembrance  of  this  fact:  while  the  faults  of 
the  South  are  not  my  subject,  indirectly  its  better 
qualities  are.  I  purpose  to  discuss  the  excesses  of  a 
Northern  party.  The  range  of  the  discussion  calls 
for  a  favorable  view  of  the  South,  since  the  wrong- 
doings of  the  North  can  be  justly  and  strongly  pre- 
sented only  in  view  of  the  claims  of  the  opposite 
section. — In  the  ardor  of  mental  operation  upon  such 
a  subject,  I  shall  often  express  myself  so  decidedly 


PRELIMINARY  OBSERVATIONS.  15 

and  strongly,  as  to  start  in  my  own  mind  an  inclina- 
tion to  pause  and  explain.  Now,  let  this  thought 
comprise  a  part  of  every  strong  adverse  opinion  or 
expression  I  may  utter.  At  the  very  moment  when 
I  am  expressing  the  most  decided  condemnation  of 
what  I  deem  pernicious  error,  I  acknowledge  my  ob- 
ligation to  cherish  the  very  heartiest  sympathy  with 
every  good  thing  in  the  character  of  him  whom  I 
oppose,  and  as  my  fellow-creature,  to  hold  his  soul 
to  mine  by  all  the  chords  of  the  truest  fraternity ; 
and  the  more  so,  as  I  am  compelled  to  differ  from  him 
so  decidedly.  I  do  not  say  that  I  shall  adhere  strict- 
ly to  this  line  of  duty.  But  this  I  do  say,  just  as  far 
as  I  depart  from  it — before  my  injured  fellow-man 
and  our  glorious  Christianity,  I  offend. 


CHAPTER  II. 

ARROGANT. 

You  will  permit  me  to  remind  you  that  this  Anti- 
Slavery  spirit  assumes  the  office  of — a  REFORMER.  It 
charges  a  high  immorality,  and  essays  to  correct  tho 
evil. 

If  I  mistake  not,  our  Modern  Reform  defines  itself }by 
taking  ground  in  the  teeth  of  the  Jive  capital  qualifica- 
tions of  the  true  reformer. 

The  very  first  motion  of  accused  mind  is,  to  put 
upon  trial  the  superiority  assumed  by  him  who  steps 
forward  to  correct  it  So  far  as  facts  permit  it  to 
question  the  preeminence  so  invidiously  asserted, 
just  so  far  they  generate  a  feeling  of  self-right- 
eousness impregnable  to  conviction,  and  the  ac- 
cused will  be  sure  to  fling  back  the  charge  in  the 
face  of  the  accuser :  "  Physician !  heal  thyself."  The 
primary  qualification  of  a  reformer,  therefore,  is  recti- 
tude— the  undeniable  possession  of  that  personal 
superiority  in  virtue  practically  assumed  by  an  at- 
tempt to  reclaim  another  from  sin.  * 


ARROGANT.  17 

Were  a  candid  mind  summoned  to  pronounce  the 
primary  property  of  the  Progress  spirit  of  our  times, 
he  would  be  apt  to  refpond,  it  is — 

ARROGANT. 

The  Reformer  assumes  superiority — 

I.  In  Character. — No  language  can  speak  the  pro- 
fundity of  his  self-righteousness  in  this  connection.  He 
never  imagines  for  an  instant  any  kind  of  comparison 
of  himself  with  a  slaveholder.  ,  He  never  doubts 
that  rectitude  is  with  himself,  depravity  with  his 
neighbor.  It  ever  lies  in  his  mind,  without  a  ques- 
tion, that  he,  as  it  were,  is  the  civilized  man, 
the  other  the  savage ;  he,  the  puritan,  the  other  the 
publican;  he, the  philanthropist,  the  other  the  man- 
stealer.  Should  a  slaveholder,  hard  pressed  by  his 
vehement  denunciations,  undertake  some  sort  of  de- 
fense, he  would  very  probably  provoke  the  ancient 
retort  of  outraged  phariseeism:  "Thou  wast  alto- 
gether born  in  sin,. and  dost  thou"  deign  to  compare 
thyself  with  me.  "  Stand  by,  I  am  holier  than  thou." 

What  shall  we  say  of  these  enormous  pretensions  to 
comparative  personal  rectitude  ?  That  there  are  very 
many  excellent  persons  amongst  those  who  hold  ex- 
treme views  on  this  subject,  we  renewedly  and  cheer- 
fully acknowledge ;  but  beyond  a  doubt  very  many 
slaveholders,  judged  by  every  law  which  God  has  ad- 
dressed to  the  hearts  and  consciences  of  men,  are  fur 
holier  persons  than  multitudes  of  those  most  forward  in 
their  condemnation.  There  are  a  few  masters,  'tis  true, 
who  deserve  the  deepest  reprehension  for  ill-treatment 


18  MODERN  REFORM. 

of  their  slaves;  but  there  are  many,  very  many 
others  who  do  exhibit  the  soundest  friendship  toward 
those  committed  to  their  care,  and  this, simply  as  one 
demonstration  of  a  beautiful  Christian  character  in 
some,  and  a  symmetrical  natural  character  in  others. 
Our  Reformer,  on  the  contrary,  while  it  will  be  con- 
ceded that  he  practically  confers  very  few  blessings 
upon  the  slave,  certainly  does  exhibit  toward  the 
master  such  a  hard  and  bitter  spirit,  and  does  carry 
out,  in  his  general  deportment,  such  arrogant  and 
degrading  assumptions,  as  may  well  start  the  inquiry 
Whether  the  slave  would  not  be  greatly  the  loser,  in 
many  cases,  if  the  Reformer  himself  were  substituted 
for  the  party  he  so  violently  toils  to  improve. 

But  our  more  decisive  inquiry  on  this  head  re- 
spects— 

II.  Doctrine. — The  great  reforming  proposition  is 
this: 

Sfaveholding,  or  such  a  state  of  society  as  is  common 
at  the  South,  in  the  very  nature  of  the  relation,  is  sinful 
in  the  sight  of  God.  Compulsory  servitude — is  sin  in 
itself  ;and  therefore  never  was  right  at  any  time — never 
can  be  right  under  any  circumstances. 

No  language  can  express  the  supreme  confidence 
of  the  Reformer  in  the  truth  of  his  principle.  Let  it 
be  remembered  if  slaveholding  under  any  circum- 
stances ever  was,  is,  or  can  be  justifiable,  then  the 
dogma  of  the  Reformer  is  overthrown.  I  can  but 
glance  at  the  impregnable  array  of  adverse  evidence. 

1.  Does  not  the  law  of  love  lift  up   its  voice 


ARROGANT.  19 

against  this  doctrine  ?  Behold  the  masters  and  serv- 
ants of  the  South!  Upon  the  face  of  the  earth 
never  were  two  races  of  men  thrown  together  more 
diametrically  opposed  to  each  other  in  complexion, 
condition,  capacity,  cultivation,  connection,  and  his- 
tory. Their  present  coexistence  for  good,  in  any 
other  relation,  is  an  exact  impossibility.  See  how 
the  Free  States  themselves  legislatively  fight  off  the 
introduction  of  even  a  few  of  the  most  enlightened  of 
them.  Listen  to  the  recent  language  of  Col.  John 
Prince,  a  member  of  the  Canadian  Parliament :  "It 
has  been  my  misfortune,  and  the  misfortune  of  my 
family,  to  live  among  these  blacks  (and  they  have 
lived  upon  us)  for  twenty-four  years.  I  have  em- 
ployed hundreds  of  them,  and,  with  the  exception  of 
Richard  Hunter,  not  one  has  ever  done  for  us  a  week's 
honest  labor.  I  have  taken  them  into  my  service, 
have  fed  and  clothed  them  year  after  year  on  their 
arrival  from  the  States,  and  in  return  have  generally 
found  them  rogues  and  thieves,  and  a  graceless,  worth- 
less, thriftless,  lying  set  of  vagabonds.  This  de- 
scription of  them  as  a  body  will  be  indorsed  by  all 
the  western  white  men,  with  very  few  exceptions." 

At  a  blow  destroy  the  existing  relations  of  the 
white  and  colored  population  at  the  South:  By  an 
edict  of  instantaneous  and  universal  emancipation 
place  the  parties  upon  a  perfect  equality:  The 
sure  result  will  be  the  rapid  and  wretched  exter- 
mination of  the  inferior.  But  if  the  relation  of 
master  and  servant  is  sinful  in  itself,  it  must  be  in- 


20  MODERN   REFORM. 

stantly  abandoned.  Tell  me,  "What  kind  of  love  is 
that  which  deliberately  or  furiously  plunges  a  nation 
of  dependents  into  so  dark  and  bloody  a  destiny  ? 
God's  venerable  servant  in  the  city  of  New-York  is 
not  the  only  man  who  would  prefer  to  go  to  God's 
bar  and  answer  for  the  present  bondage  of  the  slaves 
of  the  South,  rather  than  for  their  immediate  and 
universal  liberation.  Compare,  too,  the  slaves  of  the 
South,  in  all  important  to  man,  with  their  normal 
condition  in  their  native  country,  and  who  can  fail 
to  see  that  from  the  depths  of  savage  slavery  in  the 
black  bosom  of  Africa,  since  the  day  that  Providence 
cast  them  upon  our  shores,  they  have  been  rising,  if 
slowly,  yet  steadily  and  soundly,  toward  civilization, 
Christianity,  and  freedom?  Should  they  even  fare 
no  better  in  the  future  than  they  have  done  in  the 
past,  what  kind  of  guardian  love  is  that  which  would 
cut  down  at  a  blow  a  nation's  prospects  of  rising 
from  the  darkest  curses  to  the  brightest  blessings  of 
humanity  ? 

2.  Does  not  the  very  law  of  human  lights  itself  discard 
the  doctrine  ?  Whenever  a  human  being  by  reason 
of  youth,  insanity,  incapacity,  or  any  other  cause, 
possesses  no  present  power  of  self-government,  under 
the  cover  of  the  great  primary  law  of  love  to  your 
neighbor,  that  human  being  has  a  right  to  demand 
of  those  upon  whom  he  depends,  that  they  qualify 
him  for  freedom.  Admit,  then,  that  the  slave  holds 
a  clear  right  to  be  conducted  by  his  master  through 
that  process  which  shall  educate  him  for  ultimate 


ARROGANT.  21 

liberty.  This  very  fact  proves  that  the  master  holds 
as  perfect  a  right  to  command  the  slave  with  the 
full,  unabridged  power  of  a  master's  authority.  For 
it  is  a  clear  impossibility,  in  nine  cases  out  of  ten,  to 
accomplish  the  work  without  it.  That  very  law  of 
human  rights,  therefore,  which  gives  ultimate  freedom 
to  the  slave,  gives  present  authority  to  the  master. 
Carry  out  your  sin  per  se  doctrine.  It  is  zfelo  de  se: 
for  the  slave  never  gets  his  liberty. 

3.  The  word  of  God  condemns  it. 

The  doctrine  is  discountenanced — 

(1.)  By  the  whole  face  of  the  Bible.  Idolatry, 
adultery,  fornication,  falsehood,  theft,  robbery,  drunk- 
enness, violence,  murder,  and  a  multitude  of  smaller 
offenses,  are  never  mentioned  in  the  Scriptures  with- 
out decided  condemnation ;  and,yet  not  one  word  of 
censure  is  pronounced  upon  master  and  servant, 
though  this  relation  is  brought  up  frequently  and 
discussed  abundantly  in  the  Old  Testament  and  the 
New. 

(2.)  By  the  face  of  every  code  of  universal  and  per- 
manent obligation  laid  down  in  the  book  of  God. 
There  are  three  recorded  systems  of  divine  legislation 
whose  obligation  is  commensurate  with  the  extent  of 
the  human  family,  and  the  duration  of  time — the 
covenant  with  Abraham,  the  ten  commandments, 
and  the  gospel  of  Jesus  Christ.  Now  it  is  a  remark- 
able fact  that  each  of  these  august  codes,  codes  of  the 
very  highest  morality  under  heaven,  contemplate 
master  and  servant  as  an  existing  state  of  human 


22  MODERN  REFORM. 

society,  and  lay  down  regulations  for  the  conduct  of 
the  parties,  but  never  pronounce  a  syllable  of  distrust 
of  its  legality. 

'  (3.)  By  the  whole  face  of  (rod's  treatment  both  of 
masters  and  servants,  both  in  the  old  world  and  in 
the  new.  By  God's  authority,  masters  were  mem- 
bers of  the  Church  in  good  standing  under  the  old 
dispensation,  and  members -of  the  Church  in  good 
standing  under  the  new  dispensation.  The  only  slave 
reported  by  the  early  Scriptures  to  have  abandoned 
the  service  of  her  "master,  was  divinely  ordered  to 
return  to  her  duty ;  the  only  servant  reported  by 
later  Scriptures  as  a  fugitive  from  his  master's  service, 
an  apostle  himself  restored  to  his  owner.  He  whom 
God  selected  as  the  standard  man  of  his  race  in  the 
great  Church  covenant,  even  the  father  of  the  faith- 
ful, was  a  great  slaveholder.  He  who  in  ancient 
times  was  pronounced  by  God  the  best  man  on  earth, 
and  through  all  time  shall  stand  the  pattern  of 
patience  to  the  race,  was  a  great  slaveholder ;  and  he 
whom  Jesus  commended  as  the  best  man  he  had  seen 
in  his  day,  whom  he  seated  beside  Abraham,  Isaac, 
and  Jacob  in  the  kingdom  of  heaven,  was  made 
known  to  Jesus  only  through  his  ownership  of  a 
slave,  and  in  the  very  face  of  Jesus  boldly  asserted 
that  ownership,  and  said:  "A  man  under  authority, 
I  say  to  my  servant,  Do  this,  and  he  doeth  it." 

The  doctrine  is  disproved — 

(1.)  By  God's  direction  to  the  Jews,  at  a  time  when 


ARROGANT.  28 

they  were  not  slaveholders,*  concerning  the  manner 
in  which,  at  a  future  day,  they  should  form  the  rela- 
tion of  master  and  servant  Leviticus  25  :  4A.  Say  I 
can  God  direct  his  creature  in  the  formation  of  a 
relation  which  is  sinful  in  itself? 

(2.)  By  God's  directions  to  the  Jews  concerning 
what  they  were  to  do  when  they  became  the  owners 
of  slaves.  See  the  slave  laws  of  Moses.  Say  I 
can  God  direct  a  man  to  do  many  things  as  a  master 
habitually,  if  to  be  a  master  for  one  moment  is  sinful 
in  itself?  Can  the  being  a  master  be  sinful,  if  acting 
as  a  master  is  not  ? 

(3.)  By  God's  most  explicit  and  reiterated  recogni- 
tion of  the  whole  sum  and  substance  of  the  relation 
in  a  word.  "  Ye  shall  buy  bondmen."  "  They  shall 
be  your  possession."  "He  is  his  money."  "Ye 
shall  take  them  as  an  inheritance  for  your  children 
after  you."  "  They  shall  be  your  bondmen  for  ever." 

(4.)  By  God's  express  recognition  in  both  Testaments 
of  the  master's  claim  to  controlf  correction,  service, 


*  Two  things  would  seem  to  be  true.  First, — at  this  time  tho 
Israelites  had  no  slaves.  The  language  indicates  this  fact.  It  looks 
to  the  future.  Thy  bondmen,  which  thou  shalt  have,  "shall  be  of 
the  heathen;"  " of  them  shall  ye  buy  bondmen."  History  corrobo- 
rates it,  negatively,  for  we  hear  of  no  slaves  among  them  at  this  time, 
nor  for  the  space  of  forty  years ;  and  positively,  for  they  themselves 
had  just  been  emancipated  from  the  bitterest  bondago.  Second, 
God's  language  on  this  subject  may  therefore  be  termed — divine  legis- 
lation preparatory  to  the  future  introduction  of  slaves  among  the 
Hebrews. 


24  MODERN   REFORM. 

honor,  and  love.  Tell  me !  can  God  acknowledge 
the  rights  of  a  relation  that  is  wrong  in  itself? 

(5.)  By  the  commands  which  God  addresses  to  the 
Christian  masters  of  the  New  Testament  Church. 
Tell  me !  if  these  masters  act  in  accordance  with 
divine  injunctions,  can  it  be  sin  to  do  what  God  com- 
mands ?  If  it  is  sin,  can  God  instruct  men  how  to 
commit  it  ? 

(6.)  By  the  whole  catalogue  of  commands  addressed 
to  masters  in  the  word  of  God.  They  all  pre-suppose 
the  formation  and  imply  the  continuance  of  the  rela- 
tion. Ex.:  "Ye  masters,  forbear  threatening."  If 
the  relation  had  not  been  formed,  the  command  could 
not  have  been  given  I  If  the  relation  did  not  con- 
tinue, the  command  could  not  be  obeyed.  Can  tho 
ground  a  man  stands  on — be  sin,  when  God's  com- 
mands imply  his  continued  occupancy  of  it  ? 

(7.)  By  the  explicit  teaching  of  Christ  and  his 
apostles  on  the  precise  point  of  the  master's  authority. 
I  shall  assume  what  the  scholar  will  not  deny,  that 
the  term  "servant"  in  our  proof-texts  is  employed  to 
mean — slave. 

It  will  not  be  denied  that  God  successively  and 
explicitly  commands  wives,  children,  and  servants  to 
obey  their  husbands,  parents,  and  masters.  "What 
is  the  import  of  the  command  to  the  servant  in  this 
connection  ?  Is  it  not  that  he,  in  his  place,  is  to  obey 
his  superior,  as  the  preceding  parties,  in  their  respect- 
ive relations,  are  to  obey  theirs?  Brethren  say  that 
master  and  slave  are  not  to  be  placed  in  the  same 


ARROGANT.  25 

category  with  husbands  and  wives,  parents  and 
children.  What  do  they  mean?  That  there  are 
conceivable  differences  between  these  relations  ?  To 
say  this,  is  to  say  nothing.  What  two  things  exist 
between  which  there  is  no  specific  difference  ?  The 
argument  is  not  evaded  by  the  existence  of  a  specific 
difference  between  these  relations,  but  is  established 
by  the  existence  of  a  generic  resemblance  on  the 
point  in  hand.  There  is  a  rightful  authority  in  the 
husband  over  his  wife,  and  a  rightful  authority  in 
the  parent  over  his  child.  Mark  now,  the  words  of 
Scripture  in  this  very  connection  speak  out  an  au- 
thority in  the  master  over  his  servant,  and  speak 
nothing  else.  In  the  face  of  this  simple,  unmistak- 
able Scripture  teaching,  will  any  man  deny  the 
authority  of  the  master  ?  Every  rule  of  interpreta- 
tion fixes  the  fact  immovably.  The  first  great  rule 
establishes  it.  Words  are  to  be  understood  in  their 
most  known  and  usual  signification.  Scripture  words 
in  their  plain  sense  seal  the  authority  of  the  master 
and  the  duty  of  the  slave.  A  second  great  rule  con- 
firms it.  Words  are  always  to  be  understood  with 
reference  to  what  was  previously  known  of  the  sub. 
ject  about  which  they  are  employed.  It  was  known 
before  that  husbands  exercised  a  gentle  authority 
over  their  wives — that  parents  exercised  a  stronger 
authority  over  their  children— and  that  masters  wielded 
a  still  sterner  authority  over  their  slaves.  Now  when 
Scripture  comes  along  and  commands  wives  to  obey 
their  husbands,  and  children  to  obey  their  parents, 
2 


26  MODERN  REFORM. 

and  slaves  to  obey  their  masters,  does  Scripture  teach 
men  that  wives  are  indeed  to  respect  the  authority  of 
their  husbands,  and  children  are  to  respect  the  au- 
thority of  their  parents ;  but  when  in  this  connection 
it  commands  slaves  to  obey  their  masters,  are  we  to 
understand  by  this  language  that  God's  word  means 
to  revolutionize  society,  and  repeal  for  ever  the  mas- 
ter's authority !  It  is  not  enough  to  say  that  such 
interpretation  is  perfectly  preposterous — it  destroys 
the  Bible  I  Rather,  in  accordance  with  what  was 
previously  known  upon  this  subject,  Scripture  hereby 
establishes  the  master's  authority.  There  is  a  third 
very  similar  rule  of  interpretation  just  as  clearly  in 
point.  Words  are  always  to  be  understood  in  the 
sense  in  which  the  speaker  knows  that  the  party  ad- 
dressed will  understand  them ;  or,  in  other  words,  in 
view  of  the  usages  and  customs  prevalent  in  the 
community  where  the  language  is  employed.  Who 
are  the  speakers  ?  Christ  and  his  Apostles.  What 
are  the  usages  and  customs  of  society  on  the  point  in 
hand  ?  Both  the  parties  speaking  and  addressed  live 
in  a  slaveholding  community.  The  moment,  there- 
fore, the  words  master  and  servant  are  pronounced, 
in  the  minds  of  the  parties  addressed,  instantly,  pow- 
erfully, unavoidably,  the  authority  exerted  by  masters 
over  servants  all  around  them  is  brought  up  to  view. 
Now  if  language  explicitly  calling  up  and  enforcing 
the  very  ideas  that  have  always  dwelt  in  the  mind, 
and  are  carried  out  in  the.  every  day  customs  of  sur- 
rounding society,  is  to  be  interpreted  to  eradicate 


ARROGANT.  ,  27 

those  ideas  and  establish  an  opposite  state  of  society, 
then  I  affirm,  we  have  not  only  no  Bible,  but  no 
language  on  earth. 

Let  it  be  understood,  we  do  not  pretend  to  say  that 
the  argument,  at  which  we  have  only  glanced,  proves 
that  slavery  is  a  good  institution  ;  that  philanthropy 
and  Christianity  have  no  work  to  dc  in  this  field ;  that 
there  are  no  sympathies  to  be  cherished,  no  con- 
science to  be  cultivated,  no  plans  to  be  formed,  no 
energies  exerted,  no  laws  rectified,  no  expendi- 
tures incurred ;  on  the  contrary,  we  affirm  that  there 
is  a  great  work  to  be  done  by  masters  at  the  South, 
and  their  neighbors  at  the  North,  through  following 
generations.  Nay,  we  shall  be  recreant  to  every  high 
principle,  and  sin  against  God  and  man,  if  we  do  not 
heartily  labor  to  bring  up  our  colored  fellow-men, 
both  in  America  and  in  Africa,  steadily  toward  that 
summit-level  of  human  rights  and  blessings  spread 
out  by  God's  most  glorious  law :  u  Thou  shalt  love 
thy  neighbor  as  thyself." 

But  this  we  do  say:  this  argument  proves,  and 
proves  conclusively,  that  the  grand  position  of  our 
modern  Reformer  is  false;  that  it  is  not  true,  as  he 
affirms,  that  to  hold  a  slave  is  a  sin  against  God. 
For  if  God's  law  of  love  often  forbids  us  to  free  the 
slave,  and  the  true  doctrine  of  human  rights  as  often 
commands  us  to  hold  the  slave  for  the  present ;  if  the 
Bible  amply  discusses  this  relation  without  condemn- 
ing it,  and  every  irrepealable  code  of  heaven's  law 
embraces  this  relation  without  a  hint  of  its  illegality ; 


28  MODERN  REFORM. 

if  God  has  always  acknowledged  slaveholders  as  irre- 
proachable members  of  his  family,  pronounced  slave- 
holders the  best  patterns  of  humanity,  and  conferred 
upon  slaveholders  the  very  highest  honors  the  race 
ever  received  from  his  hand ;  nay,  if  God  himself 
made  arrangements  for  the  introduction  of  the  rela- 
tion of  master  and  servant,  ordained  the  respective 
duties  of  the  parties,  affirmed  the  rights  of  the  master, 
and  returned  the  slave  who  practically  disputed  those 
rights ;  if  the  master's  authority  God  places  side  by 
side  with  the  authority  of  the  husband  and  of  the 
parent,  expresses  that  authority  by  the  very  same 
terms,  and  reveals  that  authority  in  the  very  same 
manner ;  in  a  word,  if  the  Scripture  can  not  be  broken, 
and,  of  old,  the  slave  was  his  master's  money ;  and  if 
God's  commands  are  law,  and  to  do  his  will  is  no 
tin  ;  then  so  surely  the  fundamental  principle  upon 
which  the  Reformer  sets  out  to  reclaim  his  neighbor 
is  an  enormous  error. 

The  first  property  of  a  reformer,  we  repeat,  is 
rectitude.  He  seeks  to  reclaim,  and  must,  therefore, 
instruct  by  truth — from  sin,  and  must  therefore  in- 
fluence by  virtue.  He  should  possess,  therefore, 
superior  rectitude,  both  of  character  and  of  sentiment 
While  the  possession  of  this  superiority  should  be 
undeniable,  its  exhibition  should  be  modest. 

Our  Modern  Reformer  makes  a  most  unhappy  com- 
mencement of  his  work.  He  proudly  arrogates  to 
himself  superiority  both  of  character  and  of  doctrine, 
while  in  point  of  fact  we  have  seen  that  he  is  dejkient 
in  both. 


CHAPTER  III. 

MALIGNANT. 

THE  second  qualification  of  a  reformer  is  benevolence. 
The  object  of  reformation  is  the  good  of  the  trans- 
gressor. Nothing  but  benevolence  will  seek  this. 
The  method  of  reformation  is  by  conviction ;  an  ope- 
ration almost  sure  to  make  the  sinner  perverse.  No- 
thing but  benevolence  will  bear  this.  The  work  of 
reformation  is  never  finished  until  the  transgressor 
renounces  his  sins.  Nothing  but  benevolence  is 
likely  to  influence  him  to  this. 

\Vere  a  candid  mind  called  to  judge  the  second 
property  of  our  Reform  spirit,  he  would  probably 
pronounce  it — 

MALIGNANT. 

That  the  testimony  of  conscience  should  be  re- 
corded against  sin  is  due  alike  to  heaven  and  earth  ; 
but- heaven  and  earth  have  a  right  to  require  that  the 
r  of  the  witness  should  be  modified  by  the 
relations  of  the  parties  and  the  circumstances  of  the 
case 


30  MODERN   REFORM. 

Our  Modern  Keformer  arraigns  for  sin.  He  pub- 
licly, solemnly  arraigns  his  fellow-men,  his  country- 
men, his  Christian  brethren,  for  deadly  sin  before  God. 
Such  an  accusation  plants  an  afflicting  touch  upon 
character,  happiness,  and  influence.  If  guilty, 
the  sinner  must  be  destroyed,  if  not  reclaimed ;  if 
innocent,  the  charge  must  yet  dishonor,  harass,  and 
tempt.  Feeble  is  that  man's  claim  to  philanthropy 
who  can  deliberately  prosecute  such  a  charge  without 
pain. 

It  is  some  evidence  of  malice  that  there  exists  no 
proof  of  crime.  An  accuser's  work  is  every  way  so 
uncomfortable,  that  a  benevolent  man  would  hardly 
undertake  it  without  conclusive  evidence  of  crimi- 
nality. The  presumption  of  malice  is  augmented 
when  the  party  accusing  does  not  seem  to  have  been 
called  to  table  the  charge ;  when,  for  example,  the 
accused  dwells  at  a  distance.  His  conduct  of  course 
must  be  better  known  to  others,  and  all  competent 
tribunals  are  nearer  at  hand.  We  gather  additional 
indication  of  malice  when  the  accuser  records  a 
charge  of  profound  criminality  against  a  vast  body 
of  persons  indiscriminately,  very  many  of  whom  are 
known  to  be  as  consistently  pious  as  are  any  members 
of  the  Church  of  God.  That  these  marks  describe 
the  Keformer's  charge  of  slaveholding  against  the 
South,  will  not  be  questioned. 

Our  conviction  of  malice  is  greatly  increased  when 
the  voluntary  accuser,  in  all  his  spirit  and  temper, 
exhibits  an  utter  incapacity  to  appreciate  the  impera- 


MALI  ;'.X  ANT.  81 

tive  proprieties  of  the  case.  Whether  this  principle 
has  not  equal  application  we  shall  be  instructed  by 
pertinent  history. 

Our  own  Northern  fathers  were  themselves  slave- 
holders. They  were  slave-traders  also.  They  trans- 
ported the  miserable  captives  from  Africa,  sold  them 
at  the  South,  and  were  well  paid  for  their  work.  Some 
of  them  were  aggravated  slave-dealers.  When  eman- 
cipation laws  forbade  the  prolongation  of  slavery  at 
the  North,  there  are  living  witnesses  who  saw  the 
crowds  of  negroes  assembled  along  the  shores  of 
New-England  and  the  Middle  States,  to  be  shipped 
to  latitudes  where  their  bondage  could  be  perpetu- 
ated. Their  posterity  toil  to-day  in  the  fields  of  the 
Southern  planter.  At  the  close  of  the  war,  when  the 
memorable  Convention  assembled  in  Philadelphia  to 
form  the  Constitution,  the  subject  of  Slavery  was  re- 
ferred to  two  committees,  successively.  The  majority 
of  the  first  were  Northern  men.  They  reported  a  re- 
commendation that  the  slave-trade  should  be  legal- 
ized perpetually.  The  majority  of  the  second  were 
Southern  men.  They  recommended  that  the  slave- 
trade  should  not  be  extended  beyond  the  year  1800.* 
Nor  let  it  be  forgotten  that  the  constitutional  provi- 
sion on  this  head  would  never  have  prolonged  this 
infamous  traffic  to  the  year  1808,  and  consequently, 
all  the  slaves  introduced  into  our  country  during  the 
last  eight  years  of  the  trade,  and  all  their  posterity, 
would  never  have  been  numbered  amongst  the  bond- 

•  Appendix  A. 


32  MODERN  REFORM. 

men  of  this  land, — never  if  either  Massachusetts,  or 
New-Hampshire,  or  Connecticut,  had  stood  by 
Delaware  and  Virginia  in  that  crisis  of -the  coun- 
try, and  like  them,  voted  against  the  extension. 
This  right  of  importation!  "Why was  it  extended 
from  1800  to  1808  ?  The  answer  to  this  question 
lays  its  hand  precisely  upon  the  foundations  of  our 
government.  The  property  of  the  South  lay  in  her 
slaves,  of  the  North  in  her  ships.  Government  is  not 
wanted,  if  it  does  not  shelter  rights.  The  South  re- 
fused— firmly  refused — to  enter  into  confederation 
with  the  North,  unless  her  property  in  her  slaves  was 
constitutionally  protected.  The  North  felt  equally 
unwilling  to  confederate  with  the  South,  unless  a 
Navigation  Act  secured  the  profit  of  her  ships.  The 
South  constitutionally  accorded  to  the  North  all  that 
was  necessary  to  a  Navigation  Act.  The  North  con- 
stitutionally accorded  to  the  South  the  protection  of 
her  slave  property.  Just  here — here,  in  this  great 
original  compromise,  lies  the  basis,  the  very  basis  of 
the  government  of  this  country.  Mark,  now !  The 
North,  largely  by  the  unobstructed  enjoyment  of  her 
Navigation  Act,  has  become  rich ;  while  the  South, 
largely  through  the  failure  of  the  North  to  carry  out 
efficiently  the  true  spirit  and  intent  of  the  constitu- 
tional provision  in  her  behalf,  lias  been  subjected  to 
constant  and  serious  pecuniary  loss,  disquietude,  and 
peril. 

I  hasten  to  acknowledge  that  all  this  does  not 
touch  the  moral  character  of  slavery ;  that  all  this 


MALIGN  A!*T.  38 

should  not  work  the  very  slightest  change  in  our 
views  of  the  institution.  But  I  affirm  that  it  does 
decidedly  affect  the  spirit  and  manner  in  which  the 
North  should  table  this  charge  of  slaveholding  against 
the  South.  If  I  must  present  an  ignominious  charge 
against  my  neighbor,  which  all  the  world  knows  lies 
just  as  strongly  against  my  own  father — if  I  must 
charge  a  crime,  into  which  all  the  world  knows  the 
accused  was  betrayed  by  the  complicity  of  my  own 
father — if  conscience  cdmpels  me  to  table  an  accusa- 
tion known  by  the  whole  world  to  be  intimately  con- 
nected with  an  incalculable  loss  and  mischief  which 
the  accused  has  suffered  largely  through  my  own  and 
my  father's  unfaithfulness  to  covenant  in  the  premi- 
ses— and  thus  I  seem  to  be  the  very  last  man  on  earth 
fitted  to  personate  the  accuser — then,  for  my  father's 
sake,  my  own  sake,  the  sake  of  the  accused,  and 
of  all  morality,  Heaven  forbid  that  I  should  bear 
down  upon  the  abused  man  with  a  hard,  self-right- 
eous, and  vindictive  temper.  But  tell  me !  Has 
the  heart  of  our  Modern  Reformer  the  very  slightest 
acquaintance  with  this  tender,  humble  spirit?  No, 
indeed  I  No  more,  we  fear,  than  if  these  histories 
had  never  transpired !  No  more  than  if  man's  soul 
had  never  been  constructed  capable  of  just  and  gene- 
rcus  sensibility!  Oh!  what  is  it  that  in  one  direc- 
tion can  steel  the  heart,  beautified  with  sympathies 
in  every  other,  against  all  the  appeals  of  modesty, 
honor,  and  justice?  What  is  it  that  can  tread  down 
without  a  thought  all  those  sweet  and  beautiful 

2* 


8-i  MODERN  REFORM. 

charities  which  would  spring  to  respond  to  the  call 
of  equity  and  honor?  It  is  malignity  1  nothing  but 
malignity  1  She  has  fixed  her  stern  eye  so  intently 
and  so  long  upon  the  imagined  crime  of  her  victim, 
that  she  can  look  now  on  nothing  else;  and  has  thus 
effectually  shut  off  from  her  vision  all  those  pcrti 
nent  facts  which  else  had  kept  the  heart  alive  to  the 
proprieties  of  the  case. 

The  evidence  of  malice  rises  higher  still,  when  the 
criminal  charge  is  virulently  held  up  before  the  pub- 
lic through  long,  long  years.  It  is  true,  intrepid  con- 
science may  testify  for  God  through  a  long  period. 
When  it  does,  we  give  the  testimony  cheerful  record 
amongst  the  noblest  deeds  of  earth.  But  where  there 
is  piety  there  is  justice,  and  justice  wiU'see  to  it  that 
this  reiteration  is  not  infliction  without  foundation. 
Where  there  is  piety  there  is  wisdom,  and  wisdom 
will  see  to  it  that  unnecessary  repetition  shall  not 
work  implantation  instead  of  extirpation.  Above 
all !  where  there  is  piety  there  is  benevolence,  and 
benevolence  will  be  full  of  anxiety  concerning  the 
cause  of  God  and  the  soul  of  the  sinner ;  sometimes 
fearing  lest  prolonged  reiteration  may  pang  the  heart 
without  cause ;  lest  unskillful  reiteration  may  breed 
only  irritation  and  reaction ;  or  lest  the  slightest  re- 
iteration should  prevent  reformation*  Most  assured-  • 
ly,  therefore,  where  there  is  no  malignity  the  testimo- 
nies will  be  intermitted  or  modified,  as  prudence 
prompts ;  always  held  up  in  an  unprovoking  man- 
ner, and  often  with  the  most  considerate  kindness. 


JULIGN'AN'T.  S5 

If  you  say  we  should  not  expect  perfection  in  man, 
I  ask  whether  our  Modern  Keformer  exhibits  any  ap- 
proximation to  such  a  spirit  as  this  ?  I  am  ashamed 
to  be  compelled  to  ask  whether,  on  the  contrary,  his 
whole  spirit,  in  all  this  unintermitted  crimination  of 
the  South,  does  not  exhibit  such  a  naked  hardness, 
such  an  entire  absence  of  all  doubt  of  himself,  allow- 
ance for  his  brother,  or  wise  concern  for  our  great 
cause,  as  must  start  the  peradventure  whether,  on 
this  point,  (be  his  general  goodness  what  it  may,)  he 
has  not  been  left  to  exchange  the  love  of  Christianity 
for  the  hate  of  fanaticism  ? 

The  proof  of  malice  is  perfect  when  this  solemn 
charge  is  renewed  at  all  times,  in  all  places,  on  all 
occasions,  through  all  channels;  in  private  and  in 
public,  in  Church  and  State ;  and  prevailingly  with 
the  most  extravagant  and  unrelenting  bitterness. 
Is  not  this  too  near  a  faithful  history  of  the  manner 
in  which  a  portion  of  the  North,  in  our  day,  do  press 
this  accusation  against  the  South  ?  You  need  not  go 
to  Anti-Slavery  meetings,  nor  search  Anti-Slavery 
records ;  you  need  not  call  up  here  and  there  the 
most  violent  words  or  acts  of  which  you  may  have 
read  or  heard.  Go  to  any  meetings  in  the  country 
— religious,  political,  literary,  or  miscellaneous;  go 
"to  any  journals  of  the  land— daily,  weekly,  monthly, 
or  quarterly ;  go  into  any  coach,  car,  ship,  or  steam- 
er; go  anywhere,  everywhere;  is  it  not  true  that, 
wherever  you  find  the  language  or  conduct  of  man, 
there  you  too  often  find  the  bold,  obtrusive  spirit  of 


86  MODERN   REFORM. 

our  Reformer?  Survey  now  the  grand  mass  of 
mental  exhibitions  thus  assembled,  and  tell  me  what 
is  the  moral  temper  of  the  man  they  represent  ?  On 
the  one  hand,  while  I  forbear  to  affirm  the  impossible 
coexistence  of  a  principle  of  piety  with  all  this 
wrong — nay  I  while  I  cheerfully  avow  ray  strongest 
assurance  of  the  intermixture  of  many  an  honest 
conviction,  many  an  upright  principle,  many  a  pure 
and  noble  aspiration — on  the  other  hand,  is  there  not 
some  reason  to  question  whether  more  enormous  out- 
rages of  reason,  oversight  of  facts,  breaches  of  chari- 
ty, or  breathings  of  hate,  ever  found  record,  than  are 
brought  to  view  in  the  history  of  this  Reform  ?  Who 
can  doubt  the  deep-toned  malignity  of  this  formid- 
able spirit  of  our  day  ?  Why,  our  Reformer  I  He 
hates  the  master  more  than  he  loves  the  slave.  Why 
is  it  that  he  can  rarely  be  persuaded  to  advance  a 
farthing  toward  the  redemption  of  a  captive  at  the 
South  ?  Is  it  not  because  the  money  must  go  into 
the  hands  of  the  master  ?  Why  is  it  that  he  is  so 
reluctant  to  contribute  a  dollar  to  colored  evangeli- 
zation at  the  South  ?  Is  it  not  because  the  agents  of 
the  operation  are  deemed  to  fraternize  with  the  mas- 
ter ?  Why  does  he  fight  against  Colonization  ?— the 
angel  which  conducts  that  captive  to  the  only  liberty 
for  him  on  earth  ?  Is  it  not  because  this  enterprise 
gives  up  a  part  of  the  ground  taken  against  the  mas- 
ter? Why  does  he  build  up  barriers  of  law,  and 
forbid  the  captive  a  refuge  in  the  latitude  of  his  own 
dwelling  ?  Is  it  not  that  he  would  have  these  masters 


MALIGNANT.  87 

keep  their  negroes  to  themselves  ?  Nay !  if  all  the 
prodigious  energy  of  this  Anti-Slavery  Reform  finds 
its  fountain  in  pure  love  of  the  slave,  why  is  it,  when 
this  unhappy  wanderer  reaches  his  own  boasted  re- 
gion of  liberty,  that  he  must  be  content  to  dwell  so 
far  below  the  level  of  freedom,  and  share  so  sparing- 
ly the  sympathies  of  the  free  ? 

Ah!  who  can  doubt  the  malice  of  the  Reformer? 
Look  at  his  black  portraits  of  slavery  and  of  the 
man-stealer  1  Hark  to  his  fierce  imprecations  upon 
the  head  of  the  sinner!  Mark  his  reckless  measures 
for  the  overthrow  of  the  curse !  Calculate  the  im- 
mense interest  he  is  willing  to  sacrifice  to  accomplish 
the  work!  Above  all!  tremble  as  you  mark  that 
demoniac  frown  upon  every  great  and  holy  thing 
upon  earth  which  dares  for  an  instant  to  stand  in  the 
way  of  his  deadly  wrath. 

George  Washinton  !  *  He  held  a  slave,  and  is 
11  a  scoundrel."  The  Constitution  of  the  country ! 
It  stands  ift  the  way  —  crush  it  under  foot.  The 
Church  of  God !  If  it  tenders  not  its  cooperation — 
it  is  a  hypocrite!  The  Bible  I  If  it  tolerate  slavi TV 
for  an  instant — away  with  it !  And  God  himself  I 
If  he  sanctions  this  hell-born  monster — even  lie  is 
unworthy  of  respect!!  Oh!  how  opposite  to  the 
spirit  of  the  Gospel !  This  is  gentle  and  peaceable, 
and  easy  to  be  entreated,  and  full  of  mercy  and  of 
good  fruits:  that  is  stern,  warlike,  implacable,  vin- 
dictive, destructive.  This  would  give  the  cloak  also 

*  Appendix  B. 


88  MODERN   REFORM. 

to  him  who  would  take  the  coat.  That  is  the  very 
temper  which  would  first  smite  you  upon  the  right 
cheek,  and  then  upon  the  left ;  first  take  your  coat, 
and  then  your  cloak  also. 

If  the  strength  of  a  cause  may  be  judged vby  the 
energies  it  can  employ,  the  perils  it  can  dare,  the 
sacrifices  it  can  make,  and  the  resistances  it  can  over- 
come, then  must  the  strength  of  Anti-Slavery  malice 
be  stupendous.  What  a  multitude  of  restraining  re- 
lations, histories,  and  truths  it  overbears  in  its  im- 
petuous tide ;  to  what  amazing  heights  and  depths  of 
adverse  excitement,  to  what  bold  extremes  of  posi- 
tion and  measure  it  rushes  in  its  course ;  and  if  un- 
arrested,  what  sacred  interests  of  earth,  what  holy 
principles  of  Heaven,  are  doomed  to  be  overwhelmed 
in  its  issue. 

The  second  attribute  of  a  true  reformer  is  bene- 
volence. The  sinner  loves  his  sins,  and  therefore 
hates  the  truth.  Nothing  but  love  can  allure  him  to 
look  at  the  light ;  nothing  but  love  win  him  to  leave 
his  darkness. 

The  second  essay  of  our  Keformer  is  as  unfortunate 
as  the  first.  He  had  approached  the  slaveholder 
claiming  a  superior  rectitude  which  he  did  not  pos- 
sess. And  now,  instead  of  securing  influence  by 
conciliation,  he  bears  down  upon  him  with  a  temper 
as  malignant  as  it  is  arrogant.  Ah  1  this  may  drive 
man  into  sin,  but  will  never,  never  draw  him  from  it. 


CHAPTER    IV. 

BELLIGEEENT. 

THE  third  qualification  of  a  true  reformer  is  in- 
telligence. The  means  are  not  more  necessary  to  the 
end  than  instruction  is  to  reformation.  Without 
truth,  reformation  is  impossible.  But  through  the 
truth  which  the  instructor  presents,  the  mind  may 
apprehend  sin  and  renounce*it,  appreciate  righteous- 
ness and  appropriate*  it. 

Were  a  sagacious  man  called  to  speak  out  the  third 
property  of  the  Reform  movement,  he  would  prob- 
ably exclaim,  it  is — 

BELLIGERENT. 

The  two  great  powers  that  work  in  this  world 
may  be  termed  suasion  and  force.  Suasion  works 
upon  mind,  by  instruction.  Force,  upon  mind  and 
body,  by  compulsion.  When  employed  as  instru- 
ments of  reformation,  they  ordinarily  differ  from 
each  other  in  each  of  the  three  parts  proper  to  an  act 
— motive,  means,  and  end.  The  motive  of  suasion 
is  friendship ;  its  means,  truth ;  its  end,  reformation. 


10  MODERN   REFORM. 

In  the  nature  of  things,  truth  is  fitted  to  sanctify ;  the 
legitimate  use  of  suasion,  therefore,  implies  kindness 
both  in  the  motive  and  in  the  aim.  On  the  contrary, 
when  force  is  enlisted  in  the  work  of  reformation, 
ordinarily  its  motive  is  selfishness ;  its  means,  will ; 
its  end,  the  accomplishment  of  some  purpose  of  its 
own.  Force  embodies  no  light,  consequently  can  not 
reform.  When  the  work  to  be  done,  therefore,  is  re- 
formation, he  who  employs  force  justifies  the  appre- 
hension that  he  is  animated  by  some  motive  and 
object  of  self-gratification,  since  the  welfare  of  his 
antagonist  can  hardly  be  his  aim.  .  The  established 
temper  of  the  movement  we  discuss,  casts  light  upon 
this  analysis.  If  the  spirit  of  this  Reformation  is 
malignant,  it  can  not  be  employing  suasion  for  the 
sanctification  of  an  enemy,  but  may  very  naturally 
be  using  force  for  a  different  purpose. 

God  forbid  that  one  man  should  do  injustice  to 
another.  Let  me  hasten  to  explain.  Although  the  ultra 
Anti-Slavery  mind  of  this  day,  I  do  verily  believe, 
is  fairly  chargeable  with  the  malignity  imputed  to  it, 
still  I  am  well  assured  that  compassion  for  the  slave, 
and  not  hostility  to  the  master,  was  the  feeling  which 
started  this  enterprise.  When  the  emancipation  of 
their  own  slaves  had  removed  the  beam  from  the 
eyes  of  our  Northern  fathers,  they  then  began  to 
look  upon  this  relation  as  philanthropists.  At  this 
time  to  fly  into  a  rage  with  the  master,  for  his  un- 
righteous imposition  upon  his  weaker  fellow-man, 
was  precisely  impossible.  They  themselves  had  been 


BELLIGERENT.  41 

too  recently  and  largely  involved  in  the  very  same 
condemnation.  But  it  was  at  this  precise  epoch  in 
the  history  of  the  country  that  three  causes  were  set 
in  operation,  which  combined  to  work  all  that  has 
since  transpired,  and  especially  to  produce  the  present 
Anti -Slavery  sentiment  of  the  North !  1.  Abstractly, 
the  Northern  mind,  through  its  separation  from  slave- 
ry, becomes  progressively  more  enlightened  than  the 
Southern,  touching  the  unnatural  condition  of  the 
slave,  and  the  entire  unwholesomeness  of  the  relation. 
2.  Practically,  the  Southern  mind,  from  its  now  exten- 
sive and  growing  involvement  with  the  institution, 
experiences  more  clearly  than  the  Northern  the  im- 
practicability of  any  present  remedial  movement 
commensurate  with  the  evil.  3,  Naturally,  the  sons 
of  the  original  actors  at  the  South  are  coming  upon 
the  stage,  and  feel  their  comparative  innocence, 
since  they  were  the  inheritors,  not  the  originators  of 
the  institution ;  and  the  sons  of  the  original  actors 
at  the  North  are  in  turn  taking  the  place  of  their 
fathers,  and  acquiring  a  far  stronger  Anti-Slavery 
feeling  than  their  ancestors  could  have  transmitted  to 
them.  Farther  removed,  both  from  personal  com-; 
plicity  in  the  matter  on  the  one  hand,  and  from  ex- 
IKTI  mental  acquaintance  with  the  nature  of  the  rela- 
tion and  the  difficulties  of  its  management  on  the 
other,  they  are  of  course  less  capable  of  making  the 
allowances  or  exercising  the  forbearance  which  their 
fathers  displayed.  What  then?  Why,  growingly 
displeased  at  the  neglect  of  the  South  to  sympathize  ' 


42  MODERN  REFORM. 

with  their  views  of  philanthropy,  and  restive  under 
a  sense  of  their  inability  to  bring  their  Southern 
neighbors  to  any  practical  movement  for  the  libera- 
tion of  the  slave,  they  felt  that  something  should  be 
done !  For  the  honor  of  the  country,  and  the  claims 
of  suffering  humanity,  they  accordingly  resolved  to  do 
all  in  their  power  to  rouse  a  public  sentiment  which 
should  secure  some  redeeming  movement  in  the  pre- 
mises. An  active  spirit  forthwith  sprang  up  among 
the  people,  and  the  most  intrepid  and  vehement  men 
in  the  land  took  the  field.  And  what  a  topic !  What 
an  instrument  to  stir  the  blood  of  men  was  in  their 
hands — Slavery !  And  mark !  Slavery,  apart  from 
its  circumstances  1  (For  these  are  never  clearly  seen, 
never  duly  weighed  by  distant  spectators.)  Think ! 
Slavery  in  the  abstract !  What  heart  does  not  in- 
stantly swell  in  vision  of  its  glaring  unrighteousness ! 
Slavery  in  its  excesses !  What  soul  is  not  roused 
by  their  narration !  Suffice  it  to  say,  Anti-Slavery 
men  betook  themselves  vigorously  to  the  work. 
They  dragged  forth  the  most  blood-stirring  details 
which  the  history  of  the  South  and  the  tongue 
•.of  rumor  could  supply,  and  wrought  up  the  most 
horrid  descriptions  which  fired  fancy  could  start 
into  life.  They  threw  out  these  moving  elements 
"vehemently  upon  the  people  all  over  the  land, 
through  their  presses,  pictures,  lectures,  and  sermons, 
until  the  hearts  of  the  multitude  sprang  up  in  vio- 
lent sympathy  with  the  clank  of  the  chain,  the  crack 
of  the  lash,  and  the  blood  and  the  moan  of  the  cap- 


BELLIGERENT.  43 

.tive,  and  the  tears  and  the  woes  of  parted  kindred, 
and  all  the  shocking  enormities  so  powerfully  depict- 
ed. Love  of  liberty  and  morbid  conscience  took  the 
lead ;  ere  long  political  preferment,  party  power, 
journalism,  literature,  and  almost  every  strong  thing 
in  human  society,  one  after  another,  naturally  fell 
into  the  ranks,  and  worked  to  impress  the  burning 
appeal  upon  the  imaginations  and  impulses  of  men. 
Remember,  too,  the  South  was  not  present!  Her 
voice  was  not  heard !  Nay,  those  calm  and  pertinent 
facts  and  truths,  destined  one  day  to  take  down  this 
unreasonable  excitement,  could  not  be  heard  while 
such  a  tempest  was  howling  through  the  country. 

But  the  results !  the  results  of  this  powerful  move- 
ment !  What  are  they  ?  A  mighty  change  in  the 
excitement  I  In  its  direction — from  the  slave  to  the 
master.  In  its  spirit — from  philanthropy  to  misan- 
thropy. In  its  means — from  persuasion  to  compul- 
sion. How  could  it -be  otherwise?  For  five  and 
twenty  years  never  were  a  people  exposed  to  a 
stronger  temptation,  peradventure,  since  God  made 
the  earth.  Think  of  the  constitution  of  man.  There 
lies  the  truth !  hate  and  rage  are  infinitely  stronger 
elements  than  consideration  and  compassion,  and, 
equally  addressed,  will  always  and  utterly  overthrow 
them  in  the  conflict.  Think  of  the  cast  and  bearing 
of  the  appeal.  There  is  the  record !  far  less  calcu- 
late I  to  breed  just  consideration  for  the  master,  and 
gentle  compassion  for  the  slave,  than  to  rouse  a  heav- 
ing, indignant  swell  that  must  work  wildly  to  sweep 


44  MODERN  REFORM. 

away  from  the  earth  the  entire  relation.  Tell  me ! 
what,  what  could  prevent  the  very  issue  whicu  has 
transpired?  If  He  who  reigns  over  the  affairs  of 
men  wrought  not  a  constant  restraining  miracle 
through  all  these  years,  most  assuredly  consideration 
and  compassion  must  have  given  way  before  the  gi- 
gantic growth  and  triumph  of  hate  and  rage,  and  the 
whole  character  of  the  movement  must  have  been 
turned  to  the  right  about  from  -the  persuasive  to  the 
belligerent. 

Should  any  man  question  the  truth  of  the  philo- 
sophy, he  certainly  will  admit  the  justice  of  the  ver- 
dict, whether  he  decides  the  case  by  testimony  or 
analysis. 

Except  the  party  on  trial — the  ultra  Abolitionist — • 
call  up  every  man  in  the  land  to  the  witness-stand, 
and  the  grand  mass  would  speak  out  a  prompt  and 
hearty  conviction,  that  the  character  of  the  movement 
has  been  palpably  belligerent. 

Examine  the  elements  of  the  operation,  and  the 
result  will  be  powerfully  confirmed.  There  are  three 
prominent  methods  whereby  the  ends  of  the  party 
are  sought  to  be  accomplished. 

1.  Agitation. — The  material  of  agitation  consists  of 
any  such  fact,  argument,  appeal,  or  agency,  as  is 
deemed  effective  to  overthrow  what  the  Reformer 
terms  the  Pro- Slavery,  position  in  the  country.  Its 
channels  are  societies,  meetings,  papers,  lectures,  ser- 
mons, resolutions,  memorials,  protests,  legislation, 
private  discussion,  public  address,  in  a  word,  every 


BELLIGERENT.  45 

conceivable  method,  in  Church  or  State,  whereby  ap- 
peal mav  be  made  to  mind.  The  prevailing  object 
is  not  to  teach,  not  to  reform  mind  by,  instruction. 
This, the  agent  thinks  he  has  tried.  He  has  no  hope 
in  it;  he  has  no  patience  with  it.  Its  uncertainty 
docs  not  suit  his  determination ;  its  demand  of  deli- 
beration and  respect  does  not  suit  his  temper  ;  while 
the  material  he  naturally  employs,  is  ill-adapted  to 
this  work.  What  then  is  his  object?  Why,  he 
means, largely  through  the  vigorous  and  obstinate 
perpetuation  of  this  agitating  process,  to  bring  the 
offender  to  his  terms,  by  getting  up  a  public  senti- 
ment which  shall  harass,  disgrace,  or  appall  him  into 
an  ultimate  surrender  of  his  principles.  Now  I  affirm 
that  all  such  agitation  is  a  flagrant  violation  of  the 
natural  rights  of  man. 

(1.)  It  violates  my  right  of  private  judgment.  My 
neighlor  should  certainly  be  permitted  to  lay  before 
my  mind  his  views  of  truth  and  duty.  If  I  do  not 
assent  to  their  correctness  on  the  first  presentation, 
he  has  a  right  to  a  second,  a  third,  and  a  fourth,  and 
to  any  and  all  reasonable  opportunities  of  placing 
his  views  of  our  common  Master's  directions  before 
my  judgment  and  conscience.  Let  it  be  that  he  has 
already  made  repeated  essays  to  convince  me,  and  all 
in  vain ;  if  some  change  in  my  circumstances,  or  any 
general  occurrence  of  providence,  or  the  acquisition 
of  any  new  light,  or  the  unusual  presence  of  a  spiritual 
power;  in  a  word,  if  any  conceivable  influence  leads 
him  to  hope  that  I  might  now  be  brought  to  receive 


46  MODERN  REFOEM. 

his  sentiments — surely,  surely,  he  has  a  perfect  right 
to  place  himself  before  me  again,  and  I  am  bound  to 
give  him,  from  beginning  to  end,  the  kindest  and 
most  teachable  attention.  For  I  must  never  forget, 
that  naturally  we  are  all  fallible  and  prejudiced ;  that 
the  interest  at  stake — mine,  man's,  and  God's — is  in- 
calculable. But  when  my  neighbor  has  tried  all 
possible  methods,  with  all  possible  facilities,  through 
all  reasonable  periods,  to  bring  me  to  his  views,  until 
it  is  a  fact  that  he  himself  entertains  not  the  slightest 
hope  to  change  my  mind  by  suasion — if  he  still 
throws  himself  before  me,  and  insists  upon  throwing 
out  upon  me  all  such  utterances  as  he  may  choose  to 
employ  with  a  view  to  subdue  me  into  coincidence 
with  his  views — I  solemnly  demand,  Is  he  not  a 
wrong-doer  ?  I  respectfully  inquire,  Does  not  this 
man  practically  affirm  that  I  have  no  right  to  think 
for  myself?  Does  he  not  make  my  very  soul  his 
slave  ?  For,  see !  he  insists  that  my  mind  shall  get 
out  of  existence,  that  his  mind  shall  be  my  mind, 
and  that  I  shall  bow  down  and  go  by  it.  Such  agi- 
tation as  this ! — clearly  it  is  not*  suasion,  but  force ; 
from  beginning  to  end,  out  and  out  belligerent. 

(2.)  It  violates  my  right  of  personal  happiness.  Sure- 
ly, I  have  a  right  to  live  in  peace  in  the  dominions 
of  the  God  of  love,  so  far  as  he  himself  does  not 
move  to  abridge  it.  I  was  wonderfully  made,  and 
am  richly  supplied  for  this  very  purpose.  Now 
if  my  neighbor,  after  failing  (in  the  full  use  of 
all  his  rights  in  the  premises)  to  convince  me  of  the 


BELLIGERENT.  47 

rectitude  of  his  views,  will  insist  upon  ringing  his 
empty  arguments  in  my  ears,  upon  rattling  his  an- 
noying shafts  upon  my  shield,  and  this,  that  by  pure 
dint  of  unceasing  disturbance  he  may  bring  me  to 
his  opinions,  I  put  it  to  you,  is  not  that  man  a  ty- 
rant? Does  he  not  unjustifiably  take  away  my  na- 
tural right  of  enjoyment  ?  Does  he  not  practically 
say  to  me,  You  shall  never  be  happy  until  you  submit 
to  me  ?  Such  agitation  as  this,  is  not  discussion, 
but  compulsion ;  a  process  out  and  out  belligerent. 
(3.)  He  robs  me  of  my  right  of  character.  My  Maker 
gave  me  a  law,  and  a  right  to  respect  from  every 
creature  proportioned  to  my  obedience  of  it.  When 
therefore  I  have  done  no  wrong,  but  obeyed  God's 
law,  and  thereby  entitled  myself  to  his  respect,  the  man 
who,  to  force  me  to  his  views,  constantly  dishonors 
me — nay,  whose  daily  treatment  of  me  involves  the 
affirmation,  that  even  here  on  the  territory  of  the  God 
of  justice,  so  vile  a  creature  am  I,  that  I  have  a  right 
to  no  mind  but  his,  to  no  peace  but  his,  and  who 
insists  upon  the  unlimited  repetition  of  this  outrage — 
may  I  not  pronounce  that  man  a  daring  robber  ? 
He  violently,  degradingly  divests  me  of  the  most 
precious  right  my  Maker  gave  me,  a  right  to  sincere 
respect  from  all  minds,  proportioned  to  my  con- 
formity to  his  law.  Now,  an  agitation  that  would 
drive  me  to  another's  mental  position  by  disfranchis- 
ing me  of  my  choicest  natural  rights,  does  not  reason 
with  me  as  a  man,  but  forces  me  as  a  brute,  and 
clearly  presses  a  belligerent  movement  upon  me. 


48  MODERN  REFORM. 

This  system  of  accomplishing  violent  party  ends 
by  unrelenting  public  agitation,  a  system  which  the 
Progress  spirit  of  our  day  has  introduced  to  make 
the  world  move  faster  than  God's  agencies  can  be 
made  to  conduct  it,  I  wonder  whether  the  men  of 
our  time  have  not  long  felt  that  there  is  something 
deeply  wrong  about  it?  I  wonder  whether  they 
have  not  felt  its  chafing  against  the  great  rights 
which  God  has  planted  in  the  depths  of  the  soul  ? 
its  violation  of  all  the  sweet  charities  of  the  Gospel  ? 

This  Progress  spirit !  This  boasted  friend  of  li- 
berty 1  what  an  economist  of  freedom !  It  seeks  to 
secure  liberty  to  a  few  men  outwardly,  by  a  prin- 
ciple which  makes  slaves  of  all  men  inwardly!  This 
high-souled  philanthropic  guardian  of  human  equality ! 
What  a  display  it  makes  of  love  and  equity !  It 
brings  down  a  force  upon  my  soul  which  would 
crush  out  the  very  likeness  of  God,  by  insisting  upon 
the  surrender  of  my  mind,  my  heart,  and  my  con- 
science, simply  to  his  tyrant  will.  Oh  I  if  there  is 
an  overthrow  of  freedom  upon  earth,  it  is  that  which 
modern  agitation  demands  1  If  there  is  a  bullying 
belligerence  on  earth,  it  is  that  which  modern  agitation 
employs ! 

2.  A  second  means  of  Modern  Eeform  is  testi- 
mony. In  its  nature  testimony  is  a  solemn  attesta- 
tion to  some  specific  sin,  usually  pronounced  by  an 
ecclesiastical  body.  Essentially  testimony  is  well 
adapted  to  work  in  the  reformation  of  the  world,  and 
practically  has  often  been  employed  with  great  ad- 


BELLIGERENT.  49 

vantage.  It  is,  nevertheless,  a  most  delicate  and  sa- 
cred instrumentality — so  much  so,  that  nothing  short 
of  all  human  purity,  benignity,  and  wisdom,  should 
dare  to  handle  it.  As  for  testimony,  in  our  day, 
while  we  are  assured  that  some  of  the  best  men  on 
earth  are  implicated  in  the  judgment  expressed,  we 
must  still  aver  our  apprehension  that,  (innocently  to 
many,  perhaps  in  some  sense  undesigned  by  all,)  tes- 
timony is  made  to  work  as  a  party  engine,  whose 
more  stringent  utterance  from  year  to  year  seems  well 
calculated  to  bring  down  an  augmenting  odium  upon 
the  offender,  until  he  is  made  to  bow  to  the  mandate 
of  morbid  conscience. 

Were  a  Christian  to  come  to  me  and  say:  "I  am 
sorry,  my  brother,  that  you  hold  such  doctrines,  that 
you  indulge  in  such  practices.  I  know  it  will  wound 
your  feelings,  and  distress  your  family  and  your 
friends.  I  know  it  will  irritate  your  pride,  and  bring 
down  public  dishonor  upon  your  character.  I  do 
feel  very  sorry  to  be  compelled  to  be  the  minister  of 
such  disquietude  and  degradation ;  very  sorry,  in- 
deed! But,  my  brother,  I  profess  to  be  a  man  of 
God :  I  feel  that  your  ways  are  a  serious  damage  to 
God's  cause,  and  peril  to  your  soul.  For  the  king- 
dom's sake,  therefore,  and  for  yours,  I  must  bear 
testimony  before  heaven  and  earth,  that  your  princi- 
ples and  practices,  in  my  judgment,  are  sin  against 
God."  Such  a  testimony  must  do  good;  and  in  a 
spirit  of  reluctance,  anxiety,  and  prayer,  deepening 
with  every  successive  repetition,  may  well  be  em- 


50  MODERN  REFORM. 

0 

ployed  more  than  once.  Such  a  testimony  seems  to 
be  the  offspring  of  conscience,  kindness,  and  wisdom. 
It  will  be  sure  to  select  its  times  and  its  terms  so  as  to 
show  that  it  watches  and  embraces  every  providential, 
every  spiritual  suggestion  to  withhold,  renew,  or 
modify  its  witness  precisely  as  a  conscientious  regard 
to  the  best  good  of  all  shall  dictate.  But  a  testimony 
which  does  not  seem  to  be  the  child  of  holy  con- 
science in  communion  with  God,  so  much  as  of  an 
epidemic  fanaticism  in  the  public  mind;  which  makes 
you  feel  its  purpose  to  conquer  you  more  than  its 
heart  to  love  you ;  which  does  not  touch  you  by  its 
generous,  judicious  planning  for  your  salvation,  but 
awes  you  by  its  wild,  stern  sympathy  with  its  own 
ends;  in  a  word,  a  testimony  which  is  a  prominent 
element  of  that  system  of  Modern  Reform,  whose 
every  breath  seems  to  cry :  "  We  are  determined  to 
agitate,  and  agitate,  and  agitate!  To  testify,  and  testify, 
and  testify,  until  we  break  you  down  and  accomplish 
our  purpose!"  Surely,  such  address  as  this  is  not 
suasion — it  is  wittl  It  is  not  argument — it  is  force! 
and  out  and  out  belligerent. 

3.  The  language,  fruits,  and  measures  of  the  Re- 
form, place  its  belligerent  temper  beyond  all  question. 

In  langu&ge  no  element  ever  flung  out  more  defi- 
ance of  authority,  contempt  of  religion,  or  malignity 
to  man.  The  Reform  movement  has  long  been  ac- 
customed to  express  its  most  descriptive  instincts,  by 
passing  formal  Resolutions  to  break  the  arm  of  the 
Southern  despot,  and  bid  the  captive  go  free,  though 


BELLIGERENT.  51 

to  do  the  work  it  "must  crush  out  the  government 
with  one  foot,  and  the  Church  with  the  other.*  As 
to  agency,  no  element  on  earth  has  broken  up  more 
friendships  and  families,  more  societies  and  parties, 
more  churches  and  denominations.  And  if  it  divide 
not  the  nation,  it  shall  be  because  the  belligerence  of 
Abolitionism  shall  be  made  acquainted  with  one 
power  at  least  superior  to  itself.  As  to  measures! 
what  spirit  of  man  ever  stood  up  on  earth  with  a 
bolder  front,  or  wielded  fiercer  weapons  ?  Stirring 
harangues !  Stern  resolutions  I  Fretful  memorials  I 
Angry  protests !  Incendiary  pamphlets  at  the  South ! 
Hostile  legislation  at  ther  North !  Underground  Rail- 
roads at  the  West !  Resistance  to  the  Constitution  ! 
Division  of  the  Union!  Military  contributions  I 
Sharp's  rifles!  Higher  law!  If  this  is  not  bel- 
ligerence enough,  Mohammed's  work  and  the  old 
Crusades  were  an  appeal  to  argument,  not  to  arms  ! 

The  spirit  of  Modern  Reform !  Does  it  not  do  its 
work  as  a  belligerent?  What  says  philosophy  ?  By 
the  law  of  cause  and  effect,  its  address  could  engender 
nothing  but  belligerence.  "What  says  experience? 
We  have  felt  its  force  on  every  hand  bending  us  to 
its  will.  "What  says  history  f  This  Reform  has  been 
walking  through  the  earth,  rupturing  organizations 
in  Church  and  State,  frowning  upon  the  powers  that 
be,  in  heaven  and  earth,  and  shouting  as  from  its  in- . 
most  soul :  "  If  I  live,  I  shall  live  by  inhaling  the 
cxpirings  of  my  dying  victim." 

*  Seo  Resolutions  at  late  Anniversary  in  Now- York. 


52  MODERN   REFORM. 

The  third  agency  of  a  reformer  is  instruction.  Clear 
truth  must  reach  the  calm  mind  through  kindness,  or 
.  there  is  no  reformation. 

The  third  step  of  our  Keformer  is  as  much  mis- 
placed as  were  the  two  that  preceded  it.  Arrogat- 
ing a  rectitude  which  he  did  not  possess,  and  ad- 
vancing with  a  malignity  which  closed  the  heart 
against  him,  he  now,  forsooth,  puts  the  sword  to  the 
flesh,  to  renew  the  spirit.  Ah !  Belligerence  may 
kill  the  world,  but  it  can  not  reform  it 


CHAPTER   V. 

IMPRACTICABLE. 

THE  fourth  attribute  of  a  reformer,  is  teachableness. 
The  first  ray  of  truth  which  falls  upon  a  misled  mind, 
will  not  complete  its  reformation.  On  the  contrary, 
that  dark  mind  must  work  its  way  out  to  light,  by 
throwing  back  upon  its  teacher  a  multitude  of  half- 
way honest  counter-suggestions,  started  by  the  action 
of  truth.  When  all  these  shall  have  been  severally 
met  by  the  reformer,  and  answered,  the  work  is  done. 
Now,  if  the  reformer  does  not  fairly  weigh,  and  duly 
appreciate  all  that  the  pupil  addresses  to  him,  with- 
out one  thought  of  the  process,  he  will  act  out  this 
result  instantly :  "  That  man  does  not  take  truth;  it 
is  not  truth  that  he  gives.  Truth  from  me,  he  will 
not  receive  ;  but  to  statement  from  him,  I  must  suc- 
cumb. Away  with  his  teachings  !"  On  the  contrary, 
let  the  reformer  be  perfectly  teachable  ;  nay,  let  him 
not  only  do  ample  justice  to  every  scintillation  of 
truth  projected  by  his  protege,  but  let  him  even  look 
out  for  it,  that  he  may  exhibit  his  appreciating  spirit. 


54  MODERN   REFORM. 

And  without  one  thought  of  the  process,  as  if  by 
lightning,  the  party  addressed  will  reach  this  result : 
"  That  man  knows  truth,lovestruth,yields  to  the  reign 
of  truth ;  that  must  be  truth  which  he  sends,  as  well 
as  that  which  he  receives.  This  fellow-man  respects 
me,  is  honest  with  me,  and  seeks  to  do  me  good. 
He  understands  my  case  surprisingly  better  than  I 
do  myself.  I  am  safe  in  the  hands  of  that  man ; 
kindly,  reverently,  I  will  take  his  teachings."  Yes ! 
teachableness  is  indispensable  to  the  reformer's  influ- 
ence over  the  mind  he  would  reclaim. 

The  fourth  attribute  of  Modern  Reform,  a  sagacious 
man  will  promptly  pronounce — 

IMPRACTICABILITY. 

All  mind  may  be  diseased ;  especially  that  which 
is  constitutionally  impulsive  and  unbalanced.  The 
ordinary  indication  of  disease  lies  in  one  fact :  On 
some  given  subject  the  faculties  and  the  feelings  do 
not  act  as  they  do  on  all  others.  There  is  a  loss  of 
equable  movement.  The  mind  does  not  weigh  truth, 
nor  the  heart  feel  objects  as  by  the  laws  of  reason 
they  should,  as  on  all  other  subjects  they  do.  There 
is  an  oversight  of  some  things  that  never  can  be  seen ; 
a  false  impression  by  others  which  never  can  be  cor- 
rected. The  machine  is  evidently  a  little  out  of  gear ; 
nor  can  you  make  it  work  right.  Try  it  as  you  may, 
you  will  find  the  perversion  just  as  incorrigible  as  it 
is  palpable.  One  of  the  most  common  forms  of  dis- 
eased mind,  is  fanaticism.  This  is  that  impracticable 
condition  which  an  over-earnest  and  unbalanced  mind 


IMPRACTICABLE.  65 

often  contracts  when  it  is  fiercely  set  upon  the  belief 
of  some  false  dogma,  or  the  accomplishment  of  some 
unreasonable  purpose.  It  is — 

Incurably  self-reliant.  Fanaticism  has  no  faults, 
and  makes  no  mistakes.  So  infatuated  is  its  impression 
of  the  rectitude  of  its  own  position,  that  it  amounts 
to  practical  infallibility.  The  adverse  judgment  of 
the  universe  would  not  start  it  in  the  least.  Try 
to  shake  the  solidity  of  our  Reformer's  convic- 
tion of  the  justice  of  his  feelings  on  the  subject  of 
slavery :  Remind  him  that  to  err  is  human  ;  that  his 
mind  may  not  have  worked  with  perfect  accuracy, 
and  the  case  may  not  be  altogether  as  bad  as  he  sup- 
poses: You  will  find  him  perfectly  impracticable, 
because  perfectly  self-reliant. 

Incurably  contracted.  Fanaticism  fixes  its  eye  tena- 
ciously upon  those  features  or  imaginings  of  the  ob- 
ject which  feed  the  disease  of  the  soul,  and  there  it 
ever  keeps  it.  It  can  never,  never  be  sufficiently 
withdrawn  for  an  instant,  to  weigh  duly  either  its 
adjacent  parts,  governing  connections,  or  ultimate 
bearings.  Try  to  confute  this  man's  sin  per  se  senti- 
ment on  the  subject  of  slavery.  Draw  off  his  thoughts 
from  his  peculiar  view.  Tell  him  that,  philosophi- 
cally, circumstances  are  a  part  of  the  subject ;  that 
you  never  compass  the  case  until  you  have  embraced 
the  circumstances ;  that  the  character,  complexion, 
shape  of  the  entire  thing  is  derived  in  part  from  its 
circumstances ;  that,  clearly,  he  has  but  a  partial  view 
of  the  object,  who  does  not  embrace  them.  Try  as 


56  MODERN   REFORM. 

you  may,  you  will  find  him  perfectly  impracticable, 
because  incurably  contracted. 

Incurably  intolerant.  Fanaticism  is  so  fixed  and 
fiery  in  all  its  purposes  and  instincts,  that  it  condemns, 
and  hates,  and  strikes  instantly  every  thing  which 
comes  between  itself  and  its  object.  No  matter  how 
wise  the  approach,  how  benign  the  spirit,  how  con- 
clusive the  argument,  the  moment  you  commence  to 
assume  an  adverse  position,  this  is  enough ;  it  will 
not,  it  can  not  brook  the  very  slightest  opposition, 
and  you  are  scorned  in  the  very  depths  of  his  soul. 
Enlist  all  your  tact,  stretch  all  your  courtesies  to  the 
utmost,  and  strive  to  remove  our  Reformer  one  hair's 
breadth  towards  the  charity  which  believeth  all  things, 
hopeth  all  things,,  endureth  all  things — the  moment 
his  soul  realizes  your  so-called  Pro-Slaveryism,  the 
game  is  at  an  end.  He  is  perfectly  impracticable, 
because  incurably  intolerant. 

Incurably  reckless.  If  the  truth  which  undertakes 
to  break  the  grasp  of  fanaticism,  were  the  truth  that 
saves  the  world,  fanaticism  will  destroy  that  truth, 
and  the  world  with  it,  sooner  than  let  go  its  hold.  I 
do 'not  say  it  will  intend  to  do  it,  but  there  is  no  safety- 
valve,  no  redeeming  spirit  in  fanaticism,  and  do  it,  it 
will.  The  fact  is,  fanaticism  is  not  the  mind  which 
God  created  to  weigh  argument,  and  follow  truth ;  but 
the  rnind  which  disease  has  set  to  storm  the  redoubt, 
or  die  in  the  ditch.  You  may  spread  out  before  him 
all  the  mad  results  of  his  doctrine — he  will  fling  them 
all  off,  and  stand  furiously  unmoved,  and  shout : 


IMPRACTICABLE.  67 

"  Fiat  justitia,  ruat  coelum."     He  is  perfectly  imprac- 
ticable, because  incurably  reckless. 

Let  us  illustrate  a  little  more  at  large  the  nature 
and  the  bearing  of  this  capital  feature  of  fanaticism, 
as  exhibited  in  that  formidable  Anti-Slavery  move- 
ment which  shakes  Church  and  State  to  their  founda- 
tions in  our  day. 

1.  The  Anti-Slavery  Reformer  demands  of  the 
slaveholder,  that  in  view  of  the  crying  sin  of  the  re- 
lation, he  shall  free  his  slaves  instanter. 

To  this,  the  Southern  man  responds:  You  call 
upon  me  to  do  wrong.  Say  nothing  of  the  massive 
interests  of  the  frame-work  of  society,  fearfully  im- 
periled by  the  universal  adoption  of  your  principle — 
in  general  such  a  deed  would  not  only  destroy  the 
present  support  and  happiness  of  the  slave,  but  ulti- 
mately murder  his  liberty  and  the  hopes  of  his  pos- 
terity for  ever.  I  must  hold  him  under  my  authority,1 
and  by  God's  help  strive  to  do  a  better  part  by  him. 
You  call  upon  me  to  do  what  you  will  not  do  yourself. 
If  slavery,  essentially,  is  such  monstrous  unrighteous- 
ness, then  you  have  a  part  to  do  as  well  as  I.  Your 
fathers  and  our  fathers,  and  you  and  I,  are  all  concerned 
in  this  sin.  "We  have  received  that  slave-part  of  the 
mutual  transaction  which  your  fathers  brought  to 
our  fathers,  and  you  have  received  that  money-part 
which  our  fathers  paid  to  yours.  If  now  by  the  laws 
of  right  and  wrong  you  demand  that  we  give  up  our 
part  of  the  unrighteous  mammon — our  slaves — do 
you,  then,  disgorge  your  part  of  the  unrighteous 

3* 


58  MODERN   REFORM. 

gain — their  proceeds  in  your  hands,  with  interest  from 
the  date  of  sale.  Until  you  do  this,  you  call  upon 
us  to  act  upon  a  principle  you  yourself  dishonor. 
You  call  upon  us  to  do  what  half  of  you  do  not  be- 
lieve to  be  right.  Analyze  your  own  consciousness 
closely,  and  you  will  find  this  to  be  true.  To  heaven 
and  earth  you  have  cried  out  so  loudly  of  those 
chains!  and  lashes!  and  groans!  and  blood!  and  all  the 
other  horrid  cruelties  of  slavery  !  You  have  stirred 
up  every  sensibility  of  your  nature,  and  to  their 
highest  capacity  stretched  all  the  powers  of  your  soul 
so  long  to  take  in  the  full  power  of  all  this  rhapsody, 
that  the  echo  of  your  own  piercing  outcries  moans  in 
the  bottom  of  your  soul  to  this  day,  and  for  your  life 
you  can  not  break  away  from  the  dark,  superstitious 
foreboding  that  there  must  be  something  deeply  wrong 
in  any  such  relation  between  man  and  man.  But 
bring  the  matter  boldly  to  the  test  of  your  own  rea- 
son. Where  the  destruction  of  the  relation  would 
destroy  every  ground  of  hope  for  the  good  of  the 
slave;  where  there  is  no  motive  of  gain,  and  no  lack  of 
conscience ;  you  know  that  there  is  no  sin  in  the  sim- 
ple act  of  holding  a  slave  for  his  own  advantage. 
That  poor  weakling,  who  has  never  yet  learned  to 
walk  alone ;  who  has  not  strength  enough  to  stand 
on  his  own  feet  for  an  instant ;  whom  you  have  been 
holding  up  ever  since  he  was  born,  with  your  own 
hands  ;  what !  take  off  your  hands  and  let  him  go — 
when  you  know  that  he  will  fall  to  the  ground  and 
bruise  himself,  and  keep  falling  and  hurting  both 


IMPRACTICABLE.  59 

himself  and  others,  until  he  dies  ?  ¥011  know  in  all 
your  soul  that  this  would  be  sheer  cruelty.  You 
know  that  justice  and  humanity  demand  that  you 
continue  still  to  hold  him  up,  and  try  to  strengthen 
and  train  him  along,  as  best  you  can,  until  he  shall 
be  able  to  take  care  of  himself.  Such  are  substan- 
tially the  views  of  many  Southern  minds.  All  men 
see  and  feel  that  there  is  some  force,  some  truth,  in 
these  responses.  What  says  our  Eeformer  I  He 
makes  nothing,  nothing  of  them.  He  himself  has 
always  been  true  to  principle  on  this  subject ;  but  as 
for  the  slaveholder,  he  has  not  performed  the  first 
act,  nor.  advanced  the  first  word  that  mitigates  the 
entire  unrighteousness  of  his  conduct.  If  you  would 
reform  the  Southern  man,  say,  if  you  please,  that  his 
explanations  do  not  entirely  satisfy  you ;  but  say 
something  of  them ;  give  them  some  regard,  some 
weight.  For  he  knows,  and  so  do  you,  that  his  views 
and  feelings  are  such  as  an  intelligent  and  honest 
man  may  well  entertain. 

2.  The  general  demand  of  the  Eeformer  presses 
upon  the  slaveholder  the  charge  of  violating  the  natu- 
ral liberty  of  the  negro. 

In  connection  with  explanatory  views  already  pre- 
sented, the  slaveholder  advances  one  fact  in  mitigation 
of  this  charge.  In  the  way  of  restoring  slaves  to  their 
liberty,  he  avers  that  the  South  has  surrendered  more 
than  one  hundred  millions  of  money* — a  sum,  to  say 
the  least  of  it,  more  than  twice  as  large  as  the  whole 

*  Appendix  C. 


60  MODERN   REFORM. 

United  States  have  paid  for  the  saving  of  the  world.  Is 
not.  this  9,  fact  worthy  of  some  consideration  ?  What 
similar  testimony  of  their  philanthropy  have  North- 
ern men  furnished  in  late  years?  They  answer. 
"  The  slaves  were  yours ;  are  found  in  your  hands. 
You  are  the  proper  party  to  make  the  surrender." 
"Ah !  if  the  negroes  are  ours,  why  do  you  inter- 
meddle with  our  business  ?  Why  do  you  not  leave 
us  to  manage  our  own  affairs  as  we  please  ?"  The 
Reformer  responds  :  "  You  do  wrong ;  you  oppress 
our  fellow-men ;  we  feel  for  their  affliction,  and 
would  plead  their  cause."  Yery  well ;  you  thereby 
identify  yourself  with  the  work  of  seeing  them  re- 
stored to  their  natural  rights.  You  lay  yourself  un- 
der obligation  to  do  what  you  can  to  accomplish  this 
end.  We  call  upon  you,  therefore,  for  the  practical 
evidence  of  your  sincerity.  You  see  the  proof  we 
advance  of  our  desire  to  promote  the  liberty  of  the 
slaves.  Where  is  yours  ?  How  much  money  have 
you  advanced  in  this  cause?  Now  the  Southern 
man  feels  that  there  is  a  voice  in  these  facts  of  ex- 
tensive emancipation  ;  they  speak  out  to  the  point  in 
hand ;  if  not  all  rectitude  in  view  of  the  charge,  they 
are  at  least  pertinent  truth.  But  you  will  observe, 
they  make  not  the  slightest  impression  on  the  mind 
of  the  Reformer.  They  do  not  furnish  him  the  very 
feeblest  ground  either  of  acknowledgment  on  his  own 
part,  or  of  allowance  on  the  part  of  his  neighbor. 
How  can  the  Southern  man  escape  this  conviction  : 
"  The  Reformer  does  not  weigh  truth  ;  does  not  do 


IMPRACTICABLE.  61 

justice.  That  mind  never,  never  can  conduct  me  to 
virtue." 

3.  But  our  Reformer  has  a  far  more  serious  count 
in  this  indictment  to  read  out  against  the  slave- 
holder. He  accuses  him  of  insufferable  outrage  upon 
the  spiritual  liberties  of  the  slave.  He  has  taken  from 
him  the  book  of  God.  He  will  not  allow  him  to  read 
the  Bible. 

Observe,  if  you  please,  this  charge  commits  the 
Reformer  to  the  work  of  contending  for  the  Christ- 
ian rights  of  the  man  of  color.  He  assumes  the  obli- 
gation of  doing  all  in  his  power  to  bring  back  to  the 
slave  the  debarred  privileges  of  the  Christian  reli- 
gion. To  this  charge,  the  Southern  man  thus  re- 
sponds :  "  If  we  have  kept  the  Bible  from  the  slave, 
then  you  are  our  witness  that  the  slave,  of  himself, 
did  not  go  to  the  Bible  for  any  Christianity  he  may 
possess.  We  aver  now,  that  in  our  day,  hundreds 
of  thousands  of  our  slaves  have  been  hopefully  con- 
verted to  Christ."*  How  will  you  account  for  this 
fact  ?  You  are  our  witness  that  we,  the  masters,  have 
carried  Christianity  to  our  slaves;  carried  it  by  word 
of  mouth  ;  carried  it  by  a  Christian  life  and  spirit ; 
carried  it  by  Christian  prayer,  and  all  manner  of 
Christian  effort  and  influence. 

What  now  have  you  done  for  their  Christian  pri- 
vileges? for  their  conversion  to  God?  There  are 
various  institutions  within  your  reach  which  employ 

*  Appendix  0. 


62  MODERN   REFORM. 

missionaries  who  labor  exclusively  for  the  slaves  of 
the  South,  some  of  whom  have  been  intrusted  by  the 
American  Board,  to  carry  the  same  Gospel  to  the 
heathen.  Pray,  what  have  you  done  to  send  Christ- 
ianity to  those  maltreated  slaves,  through  these  insti- 
tutions ?  Have  you  ever  made  a  solitary  contribu- 
tion to  their  treasury  ?  Your  neglect  to  take  part 
with  your  brethren  in  sending  the  Gospel  to  the  poor 
you  profess  so  deeply  to  pity,  is  not  all  of  which  we 
complain.  Have  you  not  been  for  years  laboriously 
struggling  to  cut  them  off  from  a  Gospel  supply  which 
they  had  long  possessed?  The  messengers  of  the 
American  Home  Missionary  Society,  had  long  been 
accustomed  to  wend  their  way  to  the  home  of  the 
captive,  and  to  bear  to  him  the  glad  tidings  of  salva- 
tion. Why  is  it,  that  among  her  thousand  heralds 
annually  commissioned  to  go  forth  and  carry  the  glo- 
rious Gospel  of  the  blessed.  God  to  the  poor  and  des- 
titute of  the  United  States — if  we  except  the  State  of 
Missouri,  why  is  it  that  this  day  there  hangs  over 
this  country  the  dark  perad venture  that  its  very 
strongest  Home  Missionary  organization  may  never 
send  another  messenger  to  a  solitary  captive  of  tho 
3,000,000  who  live  within  the  limits  of  her  mi.- 
sionary  field  ?  Is  it  not  because  your  spirit  and  prin- 
ciple which  started  an  organization  many  years  ago, 
and  confined  your  Home  Missionary  operations  en- 
tirely to  the  North,  from  that  day  have  never  suf- 
fered the  American  Home  Missionary  Society  to  rest, 
but  have  pressed  your  point  with  unfailing  vigor, 


INPHACTICABLE.  63 

until  you  have  now,  to  all  intents  and  purposes,  con- 
strained that  body  to  pursue  such  a  course  as  will 
assuredly  cut  off  the  South  from  her  missionary  pa 
tronage,  perhaps  for  ever  ? 

How  stands  the  case  in  this  connection  ?  If  cen- 
surable Southern  laws,  which  none  had  so  great  in- 
fluence in  enacting  as  yourselves,  did  place  the  bond- 
man under  an  inhibition  of  the  letter  of  God's  word, 
%  the  •slaveholder  affirms  that  he  himself  did  yet  so 
carry  the  substance  and  spirit  of  the  Gospel  into  the 
very  region  of  this  prohibition,  that  a  very  great 
multitude  of  souls  have  been  brought  to  the  hope  of 
the  Gospel.  We  repeat  the  inquiry :  In  the  very 
matter  of  your  own  charge,  what  have  you  done  ? 
You  yourself  never  did  preach  or  send  the  Gospel  to 
the  slave,  though  always  declaiming  about  his  rights 
and  wrongs  in  the  premises.  The  little  that  others 
did,  you  sternly  opposed  from  year  to  year,  and  to- 
day, with  the  world's  strongest  Home  Missionary 
arm  under  your  control,  and  the  world's  loudest  note 
of  philanthropy  to  the  American  slave  upon  your 
lip,  for  aught  we  can  see,  in  solid  phalanx  their  mil- 
lions must  go  to  perdition  if  left  to  the  spirit  or  let- 
ter of  any  gospel  you  shall  send  them.  Now  the 
Southern  man  says :  Here  are  facts  which  all  the 
world  must  see  do  bear  and  bear  strongly  upon  the 
point  charged.  Admit  that  they  do  not  acquit  of  all 
blame,  yet  they  certainly  should  have  some  weight. 
But  our  Reformer  remains  perfectly  unaffected  by  all 
this.  Nothing  advanced  operates  to  convince  him 


64  MODERN  REFORM. 

in  the  matter  of  religious  duty  to  the  slave,  that  either 
he  himself  is  chargeable  with  the  slightest  short-com- 
ing, or  that  the  master  is  to  be  accredited  for  the 
smallest  fidelity.  By  the  very  nature  of  mind,  and  its 
reformation,  how  can  such  an  impracticable,  unreason- 
able temper  hope  to  work  any  improvement  in  South- 
ern morality  ? 

4.  Irritated  by  what  he  deems  the  unprincipled 
sluggishness  of  the  slaveholder  under  all  his  disci- 
pline, he  presses  the  general  charge  in  a  more  stirring 
form.  You  admit  that  slavery  is  a  great  evil.  Why 
then  do  you  not  take  ground  against  it  ?  From  gen- 
eration to  generation  the  poor  down-trodden  slave  is 
crushed  into  the  earth  as  though  he  were  a  very  clod. 
And  nothing  is  done  !  In  verification  of  your  sin- 
cerity, why  do  you  not  lift  up  a  standard  against  this 
horrid  oppression,  and  start  some  bold  remedial  move- 
ment, and  begin  your  work  at  once  ? 

The  slaveholder  responds,  Come,  brethren !  just 
practise  your  own  principle,  and  show  us  how  to  do 
this  thing  I  You  will  not  say  that  we  have  all  the 
sin  of  the  earth.  You  will  not  deny  that  you  have 
great  sins  as  well  as  your  neighbors.  Brethren ! 
Covetousness  /  Is  it  not  a  sin  ?  Is  it  not  a  great  sin  ? 
Lay  it  side  by  side  with  slavery,  and  whatever  you 
may  think  of  their  relative  turpitude,  what  does  God 
say  ?  Can  you  show  me  one  clear  word,  in  all  the 
Bible,  through  which  God  plants  his  frown  upon  the 
holding  of  a  slave  and  calls  it — sin !  "What  a  stand- 
ard, on  the  contrary,  God  has  lifted  up  against  covet- 


IMPRACTICABLE.  65 

ousness !  God  commands :  "  Thou  shalt  not  covet." 
God  affirms — that  covetousftess  is  idolatry,  the  root  of 
all  evil,  not  to  be  named  amongst  saints,  and  worthy 
of  death  ;  that  covetousness  brings  temptations,  snares, 
defilement,  sorrows,  mourning,  destruction,  and  per- 
dition ;  that  he  abhors  it,  is  wroth  with  it,  curses  it 
and  will  smite  it.  Finally,  he  assures  all  men  that 
he  will  no  more  permit  a  covetous  man  to  enter  into 
his  kingdom  than  extortioners,  idolaters,  adulterers, 
fornicators,  whoremongers,  drunkards,  murderers,  or 
blasphemers.  Say,  my  brethren  of  the  North,  have 
you  no  covetousness  among  you  ?  None  amongst 
the  merchants  of  your  great  cities  ?  None  amongst 
the  manufacturers  of  your  towns  and  villages  ?  Call 
over  the  catalogue  of  your  church  members  confess- 
edly worth  their  hundreds  upon  hundreds  of  thousands, 
and  some  of  them  million  after  million  of  dollars ! 
These  disciples  of  Him  who  had  not  where  to  lay  his 
head,  what  do  they  with  all  this  silver  and  gold  of 
the  Lord  in  their  hands  ?  I  acknowledge  when  Je- 
sus says,  "He  of  you,  whosoever  he  be,  that  forsuketh 
not  all  that  he  hath  can  not  be  my  disciple,"  he  does 
not  teach  that  the  rich  man  is  to  cast  his  wealth  into 
the  sea ;  nor  that,  reserving  food  and  raiment,  he  is 
forthwith  to  scatter  the  residue  for  the  good  of  the 
kingdom.  But  this  he  does  mean:  As  "ye  are  not 
your  own,"  and  "no  man  liveth  unto  himself,"  so  "the 
silver  and  the  gold  are  the  Lord's,"  as  well  as  body, 
soul,  and  influence.  The  Christian,  therefore,  should 
so  use  this  money  as  both  to  feel  in  his  heart  and 


66  MODERN  REFORM. 

. 

show  by  his  life  that  he  does  not  hold  it  as  a  world- 
ling, but  as  a  steward.  '  Appropriating  an  all-suffi- 
ciency in  every  reasonable  sense  for  himself  and  family, 
he  is  religiously  to  account  the  residue  as  the  Lord's, 
and  to  make  such  use  of  the  same  as,  in  the  exercise 
of  an  honest  Christian  discretion,  he  believes  will  best 
promote  his  kingdom.  It  may  not  be  wise  to  place 
even  the  greater  part  of  it  out  of  his  hands ;  but  this 
he  should  not  forget,  he  robs  God  and  strikes  a  blow 
upon  the  Church,  if  he  permits  valuable  Christian 
objects  around  him  to  perish,  struggle,  or  fail  to  be 
established,  because  he  holds  his  wealth  more  as  his 
own  than  as  his  Master's.  But  do  all  the  rich  men  of 
the  Northern  churches  hold  and  handle  their  wealth 
on  this  principle  ?  Having  food  and  raiment,  so  far 
as  they  and  theirs  are  concerned,  are  they  content 
therewith ;  and  do  they  conscientiously  employ  the 
residue  of  the  Lord's  money  for  the  Lord's  glory  ? 
As  far  as  they  are  rich,  are  tliey  just  so  far  strong  to 
spread  the  Bible,  scatter  tracts,  build  churches,  and 
preach  the  Gospel  at  home  and  abroad  ?  Tell  me,  I 
beseech  you,  is  all  this  mighty  wealth  of  the  mem- 
ber— holiness  to  the  Master?  Sacred  to  the  king- 
dom ?  Look,  my  dear  brethren,  look !  O  the  na- 
tions, the  nations  of  the  earth !  O  the  myriads  of 
our  own  countrymen,  bond  and  free,  who  sit  in  the 
region  and  shadow  of  death,  and  no  light  springs  up 
to  them  I  And  why !  why  do  they  perish  for  the 
lack  of  vision?  Is  not  one  reason  clearly  this?  Be-. 
cause  so  much  of  God's  money  is  locked  up  in  man'? 


IMPRACTICABLE.  67 

coffers,  and  held  under  a  heart-tenure  that  would  not 
be  called  to  find  a  new  use  for  one  solitary  dollar 
of  it,  if  the  cause  of  God  were  this  moment  struck 
out  of  existence.  Oh !  bring  a  Christian  heart  into 
the  Church  of  Christ!  Let  the  salvation  of  this 
world  rise  up  before  the  mind  in  its  proper,  infinite 
preeminence  above  all  the  carnal  ends  of  the  nations 
combined.  Let  all  the  dead  money  of  the  Lord  be 
brought  out  from  the  clutches  of  a  covetous  heart. 
Let  it  set  to  work,  just  as  far  as  they  can  be  well 
spared  from  secular  duty,  all  the  good  men  and 
women  in  the  world  who  have  capacity  to  serve 
God's  cause.  In  a  word,  all  this  hoarded  wealth, 
which  now  only  gives  a  worldly  eminence  to  a 
Christian  man  without  lifting  a  finger  for  the  Christ- 
ian cause,  let  it  set  up  and  sustain  all  such  enterprises 
of  benevolence  and  religion  as  Christian  wisdom  may 
devise,  and  would  there  not  be  a  change  in  the  earth 
in  a  day  I  Observe !  I  do  not  now  ask  any  such  en- 
tire consecration  of  church  wealth.  But  one  point, 
one  distinct  point,  you  must  permit  me  to  press  upon 
your  Christian  judgment  and  conscience.  In  the 
just  exercise  of  the  authority  which  our  great  Head 
has  committed  to  the  Church  militant  for  the  saving 
of  the  world,  command  that  all  the  millionaires,  all 
the  greatly  wealthy  in  the  Northern  churches  from 
tliis  day  revolutionize  their  habits  of  using  God's 
money.  Command  that  annually  they  shall  hereafter 
lay  up  for  themselves  what  they  have  been  hereto- 
fore accustomed  to  contribute  to  the  kingdom  ;  and 


68  MODERN   REFORM. 

hereafter  contribute  to  the  kingdom  what  they  have 
been  heretofore  accustomed  to  iay  up  for  themselves. 
Mark  !  this  does  not  abstract  one  dollar  from  their 
huge  fortunes,  not  a  dollar !  Just  do  this,  and  would 
not  this  incipient  disgorging  of  the  covetousness  of 
the  Church  start  up  every  good  cause  under  heaven, 
and  make  the  entire  kingdom  move  along  before  the 
world  ?  "^"ould  it  not  fling  into  the  eyes  of  men  a 
light  from  heaven,  a  conviction  of  the  reality  of  re- 
ligion which,  from  this  hour-  shall  ahnost  double  the 
power  of  every  line  of  Scripture,  and  every  sentence 
from  the  desk?  Now,  my  dear  brethren  of  the 
North,  so  opposed  to  slavery,  look  around  you  upon 
the  self-consecrated  masses  of  God's  money  in  the 
hands  of  church  members,  and  if  God's  description 
of  covetousness  is  no  error,  oh  I  the  sin,  the  sin  that 
lies  at  the  door  of  the  Northern  Church !  And  its 
mischief,  who  can  speak  it  ?  Before  the  whole  world 
what  a  death-blow  does  this  covetousness  daily  strike 
upon  that  weighty  word  of  heaven :  "  No  man  liveth 
unto  himself."  What  a  death-blow  daily  upon  that 
great  command  of  Christ :  "  Seek  ye  first  the  king- 
dom." What  blows  it  insidiously,  effectively,  per- 
petually deals  upon  the  power  of  all  the  saving 
truth  of  God!  Retort  not,  my  brother,  that  this 
charge  lies  as  heavily  against  the  South  as  against  the 
North.  Were  the  allegation  true,  the  argument  is 
false,  for  your  neighbor's  sin  does  not  diminish  your 
own  one  whit.  But  it  is  not  true  that  the  North  and 
the  South  stand  upon  the  same  level  in  this  matter. 


IMPRACTICABLE.  69 

Proper  Christian  example  in  the  right  use  of  the 
Lord's  money,  the  North  stands  under  paramount 
obligations  to  display,  for  two  reasons.  The  North 
has  been  intrusted  by  the  Lord  with  a  more  signal 
opportunity  of  speaking  out  to  the  world  on  this  sub- 
ject, since  he  has  placed  more  than  twice  as  much 
of  the  property  of  the  North  in  the  hands  of  the 
Northern  Church  as  of  the  property  of  tlj£  South  in 
the  hands  of  the  Southern  Church.  Again,  the  North 
has  received  from  the  Lord  far  clearer  knowledge  of 
the  example  which  the  Church  of  Christ  should  give 
to  the  world  respecting  this  precise  point  of  Christian 
morality.  For  the  world  knows,  as  to  the  proper  use 
of  his  silver  and  gold,  the  Lord  has  given  to  the  North- 
ern Church  ten  times  the  teaching  and  the  training 
•which,  in  his  providence,  he  has  been  pleased  to  allot 
to  the  Southern  Church. 

But  be  all  this  as  it  may,  you  admit,  my  brother, 
that  Northern  Church  covetousness  is  a  great  evil. 
"\V  i  i  y ,  then,  do  you  not  take  ground  against  it  ?  From 
generation  to  generation,  before  heaven  and  earth, 
this  monster  sin  leaves  God's  cause  to  suffer  and  de- 
< "ty  in  every  land,  while  it  prostitutes  God's  property 
to  foster  the  spirit,  power,  and  fame  of  the  world. 
In  verification  of  the  sincerity  of  your  confession  of 
sin,  why  do  you  not  lift  up  a  standard  against  this 
mighty  mischief?  Why  do  you  not  start  some  bold 
remedial  movement,  and  begin  your  work  at  once? 
You  respond:  "We  do  preach  against  it."  Preach 
against  it !  Why,  if  we  had  such  texts,  such  divine 


70  MODERN   REFORM. 

• 

words,  against  slavery  as  you  have  against  covetous- 
ness,  we  should  indeed  stand  exposed  to  your  rebuke 
for  the  toleration  of  outrageous  sin.  Preach  against 
it !  If  preaching  does  not  break  down  such  palpa- 
ble, shameful  sin,  why  do  you  not  arraign  it,  and 
condemn  it,  and  apply  the  knife  of  the  Church  to  it  ? 
Why  do  you  not  treat  your  own  Scripture  sin  as  you 
eternally  j§sist  upon  treating  our  sin  that  can  not  be 
found  in  the  Scriptures  ? 

How  stands  our  case  on  this  head  ?  Our  Northern 
brother  says  that  slaveholding  is  a  great  sin,  of  long 
standing,  guiltily  tolerated ;  and  the  Northern  Church 
will  never  be  satisfied  until  the  Southern  Church  takes 
some  bold,  decided  stand  against  it.  The  slaveholder 
responds,  Northern  Church  covetousness  is  a  great 
sin,  of  long  standing,  guiltily  tolerated ;  that  the 
Southern  Church  will  never  be  satisfied  until  the 
Northern  Church  takes  some  bold,  decided  stand 
against  it.  Pray,  what  ground  of  obligation  do  you 
make  out  against  the  South,  which  we  do  not  make 
out  against  the  North?  "Thou  that  teachest  an- 
other, teachest  thou  not  thyself?"  No,  indeed!  our 
Northern  brother  is  perfectly  unteachable.  "What 
every  other  mind  on  earth  must  see,  his  diseased 
mind  never  discovers.  Tell  me !  must  not  the  slave- 
holder cease  to  be  an  ordinary  man  if  he  does  not  in- 
dignantly feel  and  say,  that  man  will  not  heed  the 
truth — I  will  have  nothing  to  do  with  him  ? 

5.  No  language  can  speak  the  confidence  with 
which  the  Reformer  presses  the  last  head  of  the  gen- 


IMPRACTICABLE.  71 

eral  charge  upon  tlie  slaveholder.  In  your  superior 
strength  you  have  forced  a  most  unrighteous  relation 
upon  a  feeble  fellow-man.  You  have  crushed  out  all 
his  natural  liberty,  robbed  him  of  the  word  of  God, 
and  while  you  admit  that  all  this  is  a  great  evil,  it  is 
not  only  true  that  you  will  do  nothing,  but  the  fact 
is,  you  will  hear  nothing.  You  resist  all  light. 

By  all  his  attitude,  feelings,  and  language,  the  Re- 
former avows  himself  every  way  willing  to  encoun- 
ter all  truth  upon  this  subject  So  far  from  being 
disposed  to  evade  or  to  wrest  truth,  he  feels  in  all  his 
soul  that  he  is  ever  looking  it  directly  in  the  face,  and 
desires  to  do  nothing  else.  No  I  It  is  he  that  doeth 
evil  who  hateth  the  light.  It  is  the  miserable  slave- 
holder, blinded  by  his  education,  corrupted  by  his 
associates,  and  prejudiced  by  his  enormous  stake  in 
the  question ;  it  is  he — who  is  unteachable, — he  who 
will  not  come  to  the  light.  The  Gospel,  the  very 
Gospel  itself,  can  not  be  preached  where  he  dwells. 
That  minister  would  be  forthwith  expelled  who 
should  dare  to  preach  the  truth  of  God  to  the  slave- 
holder or  to  the  slave.  The  master  knows  well  that 
the  holy  light  of  the  Gospel  would  give  him  no  quar- 
ter ;  that  if  he  himself  did  not  instantly  break  the 
chains  of  the  slave  and  let  the  captive  go  free,  that 
light  of  liberty  would  be  sure  to  stir  up  such  an  insur- 
rection in  the  land  as  would  instantly  and  terribly 
settle  the  question.  Yes,  there  is  no  language  which 
can  express  the  honesty  of  the  Reformer's  conviction 
that  he  himself  is  perfectly  open  to  all  the  light  of 


72  MODERN   REFORM. 

heaven  on  this  subject,  but  that  the  slaveholder  as 
studiously  and  stubbornly  spurns  and  perverts  it. 

But  does  not  this  charge  belong  where  it  was  born  ? 
It  is  not  the  South,  but  the  North,  the  accusing,  ultra 
Anti-Slavery  North,  which  is  inaccessible  to  the  truth. 
It  is  the  Reformer,  the  accuser  himself,  who  can  not 
stand  God's  Gospel  of  master  and  servant. 

Pray  what  is  the  Gospel  ?  Is  it  any  thing  other 
than  the  word  of  God ?  Wlnt  (!•>,]  *ivs — is  not  this 
the  Gospel  ?  Are  we  allowed  to  go  to  any  point 
under  heaven  for  the  Gospel,  but  to  the  Bible  ?  Are 
not  the  very  words  of  the  Bible — tlu>  <  i«  ..-•]  <  1  ?  AY  hat 
God  himself  in  the  Bible  tells  the  master,  is  not  this 
the  Gospel?  May  we  not  preach  these  very  words 
to  the  master,  and  say,  we  preach  the  Gospel  to  that 
master?  Are  not  the  very  words  which  God  ad- 
dresses to  the  slave — the  Gospel;  and  may  we  not 
preach  these  very  same  words  to  the  slave,  and 
we  have  preached  the  Gospel  to  that  slave  ?  Let 
that  man  deny  this  who  dare !  Many,  many  years 
ago,  said  that  man  of  God,  Dr.  Leonard  Woods,  of 
Andover,  to  his  brethren  in  the  ministry:  "Come,  and 
let  us  get  up  a  Society  that  shall  send  Gospel  ministers 
to  preach  the  glad  tidings  to  the  slaves  of  the  South, 
and  promote  their  present  and  eternal  happiness. 
And  when  they  asked  me,"  says  the  good  man, 
"  what  I  would  have  such  ministers  preach,  I  have 
replied— just  what  Hie  Lord  Jesus  aud  his  apostles 
preached,  and  so  far  as  possible,  in  the  same  man- 
ner." Take  then  the  words  which  God  speaks  to 


IMPRACTICABLE.  78 

the  master  and  the  slave  in  their  plain  and  obvious 
import.  Yes,  take  this,  God's  Gospel,  and  begin  at 
Mason  and  Dixon's  line,  and  preach  it  in  its  palpa- 
ble sense,  to  every  church,  and  every  family,  and 
every  man,  woman,  and  child — down  to  the  Gulf,  and 
to  the  Rio  Grande,  and  far  away  to  the  Rocky  Mount- 
ains; and,  peradventure,  not  a  solitary  tongue  of  the 
ten  millions  of  the  people  of  the  South  shall  lift  a 
syllable  of  opposition  to  the  proclamation.  Is  this 
so  ?  What  do  our  brethren  mean,  then,  when  they 
tell  us  that  the  South  is  inaccessible  to  the  Gospel  ? 
Ah !  see !  see !  It  is  not  God's  Gospel  that  the  South 
objects  to — but  theirs  I  It  is  something  they  would 
add  to,  or  take  from,  the  plain  meaning  of  God's  words. 
Something  they  would  connect  with,  or  substitute  for, 
the  clear  simple  teaching  of  holy  writ.  It  is  this,  the 
humanism  of  the  doctrine,  and  nothing  else,  which 
the  South  objects  to  I  No  1  It  is  not  the  South,  it 
is  \t-ir- Knfjland  and  the  North  that  are  inaccessible 
to  inspired  truth,  that  can  not  stand  God's  Gospel  of 
master  and  servant.  Begin  at  the  remotest  point  in 
the  State  of  Maine  and  go  through  all  the  Northern 
States,  and  in  every  church  where  the  sentiments  of 
this  Reform  are  entertained,  when  the  preacher  shall 
have  laid  down  the  masters  duty  in  the  use  of  every 
enjoining  word  of  Holy  Writ,  compel  that  preacher 
to  go  on  and  deliver  this  further  message  to  his 
people :  "  It  js  God's  command  that  the  slave  shall 
'  obey '  his  master.  It  is  God's  command  that  the  slave 
shall '  honor'  his  master."  But  our  masters,  say  they, 
4 


/•i  MODERN   HEFOEM. 

are  "  froward."  Still  it  is  God's  command :  Froward 
though  they  be,  ye  slaves,  "be  subject  to  your  mas- 
ters with  all  fear."  Tell  me,  will  the  North  stand  this 
Gospel?  Will  she?  Mark!  While  this,  God's  gos 
pel  both  to  master  and  to  servant,  is  preached  through 
all  the  South  without  opposition,  I  venture  to  affirm 
that  this  Gospel  preached  plainly  and  decidedly  in 
this  latitude  will  rend  every  church  or  expel  every 
minister  where  the  prevalent  sentiment  concerning 
master  and  servant  approaches  no  nearer  to  divine 
teaching  than  do  those  of  our  Eeformer. 

How  stands  the  charge  on  this  head  ?  With  a 
self-righteous,  uncourteous,  belligerent  air,  our  Re- 
former looks  upon  the  slaveholder  and  exclaims: 
'  Like  other  sinners,  you  skulk  from  the  truth,  you 
'Till  not,  you  can  not  stand  the  light."  The  slave- 
holder moves  up  to  the  words  of  Holy  Writ,  speaking 
precisely  on  the  point  in  hand,  and  avows  his  readi- 
ness to  take  them  in  their  plain,  un wrested,  necessary 
import.  He  retorts  the  charge,  and  avers  that  it  is 
the  accuser  himself  who  will  not  come  to  the  light, 
but  is  perpetually  dodging  from  its  resistless  force 
behind  his  own  inferences,  drawn  from  human  in- 
stincts, or  providential  development,  or  from  more  dis- 
tant and  general  Scriptural  teaching.  This  statement 
is  undeniably  true ;  but  the  Eeformer,  as  usual,  is  im- 
pervious to  conviction,  and  only  increases  the  assur- 
ance of  the  slaveholder  that  his  mind,  however  free 
from  conscious  insincerity,  neither  receives  nor  emits 
light  on  this  subject,  and  therefore  can  render  him 


IMPRACTICABLE.  75 

no  assistance  in  seeking  the  moral  attitude  which, 
shall  be  well  pleasing  in  the  sight  of  Grod. 

We  beg  leave  to  explain,  touching  the  argument 
on  this  general  head  of — impracticability.  "We  do  not 
affirm  that  our  responses  to  the  several  points  of  the 
general  charge  of  slaveholding  entirely  justify  the 
defendant.  "We  simply  nay  they  do  break  the  force 
of  the  assault.  We  insist,  therefore,  that  the  perfect 
clearness  of  this  fact,  compared  with  the  perverse 
refusal  of  our  Northern  friend  to  accord  to  it  the  very- 
slightest  consideration,  establishes  his  fanaticism, 
seals  the  utter  impracticability  of  his  mind,  and  con- 
sequently his  perfect  disqualification  to  officiate  as  a 
reformer. 

We  have  seen  that  the  fourth  qualification  of  a 
reformer  is,  teachableness.  The  process  of  reclaiming 
another's  mind  lies  largely  in  such  a  prompt  recep- 
tion and  ample  admission  of  all  the  truth  which  the 
party  to  be  reformed  mixes  up  with  his  countless 
essays  at  self-defense,  as  will  assure  him  that  you 
honor  and  love  truth,  and  that  all  you  desire  is  to 
persuade  him  to  adopt  it. 

The  fourth  step  of  the  Eeformer  is  as  precisely  un- 
fortunate as  are  the  three  preceding.  Assuming, 
malignant,  and  belligerent,  he  completes  his  disquali- 
fication to  reform,  by  an  impracticability  which  re- 
fuses to  appreciate  the  truth  or  justice  of  a  single 
word  addressed  to  him  by  the  party  whom  he  expects 
to  bow  instantly  to  all  he  advances. 


CHAPTER   VI. 

DESTRUCTIVE. 

OUR  last  requirement  of  the  reformer  is,  that  he 
shall  do  his  work  and  reclaim  the  transgressor,  or  at 
least  work  reasonably  toward  this  end ;  in  a  word, 
that  he  shall  do  good. 

TVere  any  candid  man  called  to  express  his  judg- 
ment concerning  the  fifth  and  last  quality  of  our 
Modern  Kcformer,  I  think  he  would  pronounce  it — 

DESTRUCTIVE. 

The  work  of  a  cause  depends  upon  its  nature. 
What  but  mischief  could  reason  expect  from  such  an 
agency  as  we  have  discussed  ?  The  actor  sets  out  to 
reform.  Four  things  are  essential  to  this  work — 
purity,  kindness,  instruction,  and  candor.  That  the 
reformer  may  command  the  conscience  of  the  apostate, 
he  should  possess  rectitude.  In  the  place  of  modest 
rectitude,  our  Reformer  brings  arrogant  assumption. 
That  he  may  conciliate  the  heart  of  the  transgressor, 
the  reformer  should  possess  kindness.  Destitute  of 
benevolence,  our  Reformer  sets  to  work  malignantly. 


DESTRUCTIVE.  77 

That  he  may  reach  the  end,  the  reformer  should  use 
the  means,  and  teach.  Indisposed  to  the  patience  of 
instruction,  our  Reformer  applies  force.  That  he  may 
finish  the  work  and  secure  the  lodgment  of  reform- 
ing truth,  the  reformer  should  himself  be  teachable. 
Incurably  perverse,  our  Reformer  will  do  justice  to 
nothing  the  transgressor  may  advance.  If  four  vir- 
tuous influences  are  necessary  to  secure  a  certain 
good  result,  what  must  be  the  character  of  that  work 
which  is  wrought  by  four  agencies  precisely  opposite? 
The  work  of  a  cause  is  often  indicated  by  its  first 
palpable  effects.  Look  over  the  face  of  this  nation. 
Call  up  the  most  obvious  fruits  of  this  Reform. 
Does  it  not  ssem  as  if  under  your  very  vision  this 
mighty  agent  pervades  the  entire  organization  of 
society,  tearing  its  elements  to  atoms,  setting  on  fire 
the  course  of  nature.  Church  or  State  I  Nothing  es- 
capes it.  Nowhere  pure,  nor  peaceable,  nor  gentle, 
nor  easily  entreated,  nor  full  of  mercy  and  good 
fruits;  everywhere  forward,  scowling,  -uncompro- 
mising, and  fierce ;  breaking  peace,  order,  structure, 
at  every  step ;  crushing  with  its  foot  what  will  not 
bow  to  its  will ;  defying  government,  despising  the 
Church,  dividing  the  country,  and  striking  Heaven 
itself  if  it  dares  to  obstruct  its  progress ;  purifying, 
pacifying,  promising  nothing ;  but  marking  its  entire 
pathway  by  disquiet,  schism,  and  ruin.  Would  it 
not  be  strange  indeed,  i£  under-lying  such  a  surface, 
we  should  find  the  developments  of  truth,  virtue, 
and  blessing  ? 


78  MODERN  REFORM. 

Let  us  subject  the  working  of  this  agent  to  a  more 
systematic  investigation  of  its  bearings  upon  the 
great  interests  of  society.  What  is  its  influence 
upon — 

1.  NATIONAL  UNION  ?  What  a  country !  Did 
the  sun  ever  shine  upon  its  like  ?  The  soil  of  the 
earth !  The  histories  of  tune  1  Can  they  tell  us  of 
its  equal?  Oh!  it  is  right  to  love  one's  country! 
With  an  exultant  and  grateful  heart  it  is  right  to 
survey  her  strong,  bright,  broad  glories,  and  all  their 
high  and  holy  promise.  Come,  then,  ere  the  sacri- 
legious hand  of  some  destroyer  shall  mutilate  our 
fair  heritage ;  come  and  let  us  luxuriate  for  a  moment 
in  the  vision. 

Look  at  the  vast  extent  of  the  nation,  territorially ; 
the  amazing  augmentation  of  the  nation,  numeri- 
cally ;  the  extending  wealth  of  the  nation,  commer- 
cially ;  the  rising  glory  -of  the  nation,  politically. 
Behold  this  nation,  the  only  perfect  model  of  free 
institutions  to  man;  the  great  granary  of  half  the 
adjacent  nations  of  the  earth ;  the  producer  of  the 
raw  material  of  more  than  half  the  work-shops  of  the 
civilized  world.  Mark  her  own  factories,  throwing 
out,  annually,  increasing  quantities  of  wares,  orna- 
mental and  useful,  unsurpassed  by  the  skill  of  man ; 
her  schools,  colleges,  universities;  her  churches,  so- 
cieties, and  all  sorts  of  humane  institutions  of  excel- 
lent and  improving  regimen,  and  so  multiplied  as  to 
be  accessible  to  all  parts  of  her  broad  population ; 
her  almost  interminable  lines  of  telegraphic,  railway, 


DESTRUCTIVE.  79 

canal,  and  river  communication,  connecting  and  gird- 
ing all  sections  of  our  glorious  Union.  Oh !  look  at 
the  swelling  magnificence  of  her  great  commercial 
marts ;  her  cities,  towns,  and  villages,  multiplying  and 
brightening  through  all  parts  of  our  older  settle- 
ments ;  and  the  seeds  of  states  and  nations  springing 
up  all  over  our  boundless  Western  domain.  When 
she  sails  out  upon  the  ocean,  mark  ye  well  her  ships 
and  steamers  of  surpassing  speed  and  splendor. 
When  she  marches  forth  to  meet  an  enemy,  hearken 
to  the  echo  of  her  military  prowess  as  it  comes  back 
to  us  from  every  quarter  in  the  high  praises  of  the 
nations  of  the  earth.  But  why  expatiate !  In 
rapid  advancement  in  the  entire  circle  of  social  im- 
provement— religious,  educational,  agricultural,  com- 
mercial, manufactural,  political,  martial,  what  nation 
on  earth,  what  page  of  history  can  furnish  a  parallel  ? 
The  gravest  sages,  the  warmest  patriots  of  the  only 
people  under  heaven  whom  providence  has  placed 
in  competition  with  the  United  States  of  America, 
have  been  overheard  in  their  soliloquies  to  appre- 
hend that  gray  hairs  are  coming  upon  the  head  of  Old 
England ;  that  she  must  arise  and  shake  herself  from 
the  slumber  of  the  past,  and  work  up  to  a  for  more 
vigorous  and  enterprising  figure,  or  the  gigantic 
strides  of  her  wonderful  offspring  shall  ere  long  leave 
her  far  in  the  distance. 

At  such  a  point  of  the  world's  history,  with  such  a 
relation  of  the  grand  sections  of  humanity  to  Christ- 
ianity and  to  herself— that  such  a  nation,  so  highly 


80  MODERN   REFORM. 

endowed  to  bless,  should  be  scattered  to  fragments  ! 
A  nation,  too,  bound  by  such  a  three-fold  bond ! 
By  that  great  wall  of  waters  which  threw  us  together 
and  apart  from  that  Old  "World,  the  birth-place  and 
home  of  our  forefathers — By  that  sacred  blood  of 
the  Revolution  our  fathers  shed  when  they  laid 
the  foundations  of  those  glorious  institutions  which 
lift  us  so  high  above  all  the  nations  of  the  earth — By 
that  holy  mission  to  liberalize  and  evangelize  the 
world,  conferred  by  the  God  of  love  when  he  placed 
us  in  possession  of  a  liberty  and  a  religion  which  not' 
only  compose  the  two  great  blessings  most  necessary 
to  the  happy  progress  of  man,  but  each  of  which  in 
its  very  nature  pants  for  universal  radiation.  That 
such  a  nation — so  sacredly  bound,  so  built  to  bless, 
so  prosperous  in  the  past,  should  now  be  ruptured  ! 
And  by  such  an  agent  I  An  element  without  dig- 
nity, without  benevolence,  without  wisdom,  with- 
out candor!  An  agent  distinguished  alone  by  its 
power  to  disturb  and  to  divide  I  And  alas!  its 
progress,  its  actual  progress,  in  this  its  own  profane 
work !  Once  there  were  five  broad,  beautiful  bands 
of  Christianity  thrown  all  around  our  North  and  our 
South:  The  Presbyterian,  Old  School  and  New, 
Episcopalian,  Methodist,  and  Baptist.  Three  of  these 
are  already  ruptured,  and  how  long  it  shall  be  ere  the 
very  last  Christian  tie  shall  be  torn  asunder  who  can 
tell  ?  Once  there  was  a  spiritual  union  in  this  coun- 
try as  entire  as  is  yet  the  nominal.  But  that  spirit 
of  union  has  long  been  declining.  While  the  shock 


DESTRUCTIVE.  81 

which  the  very  thought  of  division  never  failed  to 
minister  to  every  American  heart  one  generation  ago, 
has  almost  died  away  from  the  masses  in  our  day ; 
on  the  soil  of  the  North  is  marshaled  one  party,  on 
the  soil  of  the  South  another,  whose  one  only  work 
is  to  fight  for  this  sad  achievement.  Do  not  the 
calmest  men  carry  about  them  some  sensible  testimo- 
nies of  our  decaying  union?  How  it  grieves  the 
soul  of  a  patriot  to  feel  his  own  heart's  temptation  to 
withhold  the  full  meed  of  the  nation's  glory  because, 
forsooth,  the  development  does  not  belong  to  his  own 
section.  A  few  years  ago  a  man  of  God  traversed 
this  country,  and  many  a  soul,  I  doubt  not,  did  de- 
light itself  to  do  honor  to  the  bold,  simple,  beautiful 
Christianity  which  swelled  up  in  hjs  heart  as  he 
talked  so  naturally  to  large  assemblies  of  the  people. 
He  had  long  been  exiled  from  his  father-land,  toiling 
on  heathen  shores  for  the  kingdom.  He  had  seen 
splendid  palaces,  magnificent  estates,  and  many  an 
admirable  and  beautiful  blessing  in  the  hands  of  men ; 
but  he  felt  no  participation  in  these  pleasant  elements. 
They  all  belonged  to  the  heathen  or  the  heretic.  He 
could  claim  no  estate  in  them.  But  now,  on  his 
return,  after  an  absence  of  twenty  years,  to  the  land 
of  his  birth  and  of  his  brethren,  why  1  every  thing 
was  his  because  his  brother's.  He  felt  the  tie  to  his 
Christian  brethren  warm,  close,  and  real.  He  felt  all 
Ids  brother  had  was  his,  his  as  by  an  executed  deed. 
Nor  did  worldly  man,  in  pride  of  ownership,  ever  dis- 
course of  the  magnificent  variety  and  glory  of  his 
4* 


82  MODERN   REFORM. 

wealth  with,  a  face  half  so  broad  and  happy,  with  a 
heart  half  so  warm  and  exultant,  as  did  this  man  of 
God  when  he  walked  the  platform  and  looked  out 
upon  a  thousand  Souls  and  talked  of  his  green  hills 
here,  his  beautiful  meadows  there,  his  splendid  man- 
sions, his  lovely  grounds,  his  rich  estates,  his  flocks 
and  herds,  his,  HIS,  all  over  the  country !  Did  I  say, 
as  though  he  held  them  by  a  legal  title !  No,  no  ! 
He  felt  a  far  happier,  truer  property  in  all  the  bless- 
ings of  his  Christian  brethren  than  legal  deed  did 
ever  yet  convey  to  the  worldling.  Oh  !  remember ! 
Men  can  be,  and  men  should  be  brothers  by  patriotism 
as  truly  as  by  Christianity.  But  ah !  that  agent, 
that  wicked  agent,  whatever  it  be,  that  shall  divide 
this  great  and  glorious  people,  this  beloved  land  of 
promise,  this  our  own  native  country  I  What  a  long 
black  mark  shall  be  drawn  against  the  name  of  the 
traitor,  for  the  perpetration  of  such  wrongs,  such 
grievous  wrongs  against  the  spirit  of  patriotism ! 
"What  a  world  of  property,  beauty  and  glory,  shall 
that  culprit  destroy !  All  the  North  to  all  the  South, 
and  all  the  South  to  all  the  North !  I  shall  not 
attempt  a  description  of  the  power  for  good  which 
shall  be  laid  waste — of  the  crimes  of  rapine,  blood, 
and  hate  which  shall  be  multiplied ;  nor  of  the  dire 
curses  of  heaven  which  shall  be  incurred  by  the  fall 
of  this  nation.  The  mischief  is  certain,  dreadful,  in- 
calculable !  Nor  shall  I  outrage  sense  and  dignity 
by  undertaking  a  deliberate  array  of  proof,  either  of 
the  inestimable  value  of  the  Union — every  heart  in 


DESTRUCTIVE.  83 

the  country,  and  the  world,  should  be  a  witness  of 
this ;  nor  of  the  actual  decline  of  the  spirit  of  union 
in  our  day — every  eye  in  the  land  can  testify  to  this ; 
nor  that  our  Modern  Reformer  promises  to  be  the 
principal  perpetrator  of  the  catastrophe — for  all  the 
intelligence  of  the  country  well  knows  this.  But  I 
will  record  this  last  fact  as  one  grand  condemnation 
of  this  enterprise.  Its  fruits  proclaim  it  politically 
and  religiously  divisive,  and  therefore  every  way  hos- 
tile to  the  prosperity  of  the  country. 

II.  THE  SLAVE. 

It  is  in  behalf  of  the  slave  that  the  Reformer,  takes 
his  stand  before  the  world.  If  there  is  a  blessing  in 
his  work,  surely  it  should  reach  the  slave.  Has  it 
served — 

1.  His  religion  f — The  Reformer  has  never  preached 
the  Gospel  to  the  bondman  of  the  South,  either  in 
person  or  through  effective  public  countenance  of 
missionary  institutions.  He  has  indirectly  cut  off 
the  Gospel  from  the  slave  by  generating  (if  not  al- 
ways approving)  that  excess  of  fanaticism  which  at 
one  time  has  broad-cast  incendiary  publications 
through  the  South,*  thus  provoking  home  legislation, 
in  designed  self-protection,  to  prohibit  literary  teach- 
ing to  slaves,  except  by  masters ;  which  at  another, 
has  converted  pretended  assemblings  for  divine  wor- 
ship into  occasions  for  the  secret  dissemination  of 
insurgent  doctrines — thus  prompting  home  legislation 
to  attempt  self-protection  by  forbidding  assemblies  of 

*  Appendix  C. 


84  MODERN   REFORM. 

blacks  for  any  cause  without  the  presence  of  whites ; 
and  which,  in  its  various  developments,  has  generated 
a  common  suspicion  of  all  Northern  agency  in  com- 
municating religious  instruction  to  the  slave.  Again, 
he  cuts  off  the  Gospel  from  the  slave,  indirectly,  by 
refusing  to  encourage  Christian  organizations  at  the 
North  and  at  the  South,  which  commission  ministers 
of  all  denominations,  unexceptionable  in  character 
and  competency,  to  labor  for  the  slave  in  preaching 
the  Gospel,  pastoral  visitation,  catechising  the  child- 
ren, visiting  the  sick,  and  burying  the  dead;  and  di- 
rectly, by  averting  from  the  South  those  channels  of 
missionary  supply  which  the  men  of  other  times  and 
another  spirit  had  opened  to  bear  the  Gospel  to  the 
destitute  within  the  United  States. 

Our  Reformer  sprang  into  life  purely  to  befriend 
the  slave.  From  that  hour,  his  almost  every  breath 
has  been  spent  in  the  belligerent  advocacy  of  his 
cause.  His  conscious  sincerity  we  would  not  ques- 
tion ;  but  what  a  melancholy  response  comes  back 
upon  the  soul  to  such  questions  as  these :  What  solid 
acts  of  service  has  he  performed  for  his  beneficiary  ? 
What  has  he  done  for  his  religion  ?  What  soul  of  a 
slave  has  he  personally  converted?  What  destitute 
bondman  do  his  principles  supply  with  the  means  of 
salvation  ? 

2.  His  liberty.  Large  sums  of  money  have  been 
expended  for  the  redemption  of  slaves.  It  is  not  pre- 
tended that  the  Reformer  has  had  any  very  consider- 
able agency  in  this  operation.  A  home  of  liberty 


DESTRUCTIVE.  85 

has  been  founded  for  them  across  the  ocean  on  their 
own  native  shores.  To  the  honor  of  participation  in 
this  movement  he  makes  no  pretension.  Perpetual 
contributions  of  prayer  and  faith,  toil  and  money, 
have  been  necessary  in  all  the  progress  of  this  noble 
enterprise,  from  its  foundation  to  its  present  dimen- 
sions. The  Reformer  will  acknowledge  that  he  has 
contributed  nothing  but  opposition  to  this  good  cause. 
What  then  has  he  done  for  that  liberty  of  the  bond- 
man which  has  called  him  out  to  take  such  determin- 
ed ground  in  his  behalf?  It  were  easier  to  find  an  an- 
swer to  the  opposite  inquiry.  Unintentionally  doubt- 
less, but  what  has  he  not  done  against  his  liberty  ? 
He  has  frequently  defeated  broad  and  grand  projects 
for  the  liberty  of  the  bondman,  started  up  on  the  soil 
where  he  dwells.  Again  and  again  some  border 
State — Virginia,  Maryland,  Kentucky — by  the  voice 
of  her  population,  have  come  up  so  near  to  the  pas- 
sage of  gradual  emancipation  laws,  that  had  there 
been  no  such  agent  in  the  land  as  this  Reform  enter- 
prise, or  could  its  malign  influence  have  but  been  re- 
strained, freedom  to  the  slaves  of  a  State  had  been 
repeatedly  proclaimed.  He  has  frequently,  though  indi- 
rectly, inflicted  upon  the  feelings  of  the  slave,  the 
most  uncomfortable  infringements  of  his  ordinary 
liberty.  Whenever  the  Reform  spirit  has  swelled  up 
high  at  the  North,  and  rolled  down  some  great  ad- 
verse wave  upon  the  South,  this  very  spirit  has  never 
failed  in  its  influence  to  sharpen  the  tone  of  authority^ 
tighten  the  fetters  of  the  subject,  curtail  his  present 


86  MODERN   REFORM. 

privileges,  and  for  the  time  dismiss  from  the  master's 
heart  every  incipient  thought  of  future  manumission. 
This  Reform  spirit  has  lately  struck  a  blow  upon  the 
liberty  of  the  slave,  such  as  no  other  power  on  earth 
could  have  inflicted.  On  the  day  when  our  North- 
ern brethren  landed  the  first  slave  on  the  shores  of 
the  South,  there  simultaneously  sprang  up  in  the 
bosoms  of  Southern  men  an  embryo  reformation 
principle,  if  not  as  deep  and  strong  as  it  should  have 
been,  yet  pure  and  wholesome,  whose  guardian  vir- 
tue and  power,  in  spite  of  all  opposition,  have  been 
bearing  along  the  religion,  the  liberty,  and  the  hope  of 
the  slave  through  a  slowly,  steadily  improving  pro- 
cess to  the  present  day.  Most  unhappily,  for  j 
past,  in  Church  and  State,  the  Reform  temper  has 
never  ceased  to  fling  out  upon  the  world  the  bitterest 
denunciations  against  the  South,  and  to  repeat  its 
formidable  purpose  to  agitate  and  agitate  until  it 
wakes  up  a  commotion  which  shall  shake  off  the  i 
of  the  bondman  and  drive  oppression  from  the  world. 
By  an  ever  ready  and  powerful  law  of  human  nature, 
this  adverse  pressure  has  driven  the  most  violent  of 
the  assaulted  into  an  attitude  of  self-defense,  whose 
defiant  spirit  now  speaks  out  to  the  assailant  in  the 
bold  justification  of  the  institution  attacked,  as  natu- 
ral and  necessary,  with  nothing  to  regret  and  no  tiling 
to  reform — an  institution,  therefore,  which  it  shall  be 
their  purpose  to  perpetuate  for  ever.  Now  the  ori- 
gination of  this  new  type  of  Southernism  is  indeed 
a  mighty  blow  upon  the  liberty  of  the  slave,  because 


DESTRUCTIVE.  87 

it  falls  directly  upon  his  first,  best,  last  hope — even 
upon  that  early  spirit  and  principle  of  self-prompted, 
slow,  steady  progress  at  home,  referred  to  above.  Just 
so  fur  as  this  new  spirit  shall  embarrass  the  old,  so 
far  it  will  imperil  all  that  has  been  won  or  may  be 
hoped.* 

Thus  valuable  agencies  are  at  work  in  our  day  for 
the  liberty  of  the  bondman ;  but  we  have  seen  that 
our  Reformer  has  no  hand  in  the  movement.  He  fu- 
riously debates  the  cause  of  the  slave  before  the 
whole  world,  we  readily  admit ;  but  wherever  his  pe- 
culiar spirit  and  agency  reach  the  slave,  we  have 
seen  that  they  never  fail  to  obstruct  and  imperil. 
These  two  facts  indicate  the  probability  that  in  the 
nature  of  things  as  they  Ke  in  the  constitution  of  man 
and  the  government  of  God,  this  Reform  agency 
works  damage  and  not  deliverance  to  the  liberty  of 
the  sh 

The  Christian  should  look  for  the  sound  advance 

of  man's  natural  liberty,  only  on  God's  plan.     God 

requires  all  his  servants  to  appreciate  natural  liberty, 

ind  precious  as  it  is  amongst  the  elements  of  its 

*  By  birth  and  sympathy  a  Southern  man,  yet  I  can  not  forbear  to 
say  of  this  Anti-Union  party  springing  up  at  the  South,  that  while  its 
organization  is  perfectly  natural,  in  principle  it  is  as  unjustifiable, 
and  in  operation  will  be  found  as  disastrous,  as  is  the  fanaticism  of  the 
North.  For  while  its  principle  crosses  the  plan  of  Providence,  and 
thereby  gives  up  the  only  comfortable  view  which  can  be  taken  of 
the  subject  of  slavery,  its  action  surrenders  the  Constitution  of  the 
Union,  the  most  powerful  protection  of  slavery  in  this  state  and  age 
of  the  world. 


88  MODERN  REFORM:. 

own  category,  as  but  a  secularity  at  last;  and  therefore 
as  infinitely  unimportant  when  compared  with  that 
spiritual  liberty  which  God,  at  so  great  a  cost,  employs 
the  Q-ospel  to  promote.  Now,  our  Reformer  has 
misled  his  own  mind  into  such  a  state  that  he  can  not 
help  feeling  and  acting  as  if  natural  liberty  were 
every  thing  and  spiritual  liberty  nothing.  Can  it  be 
that  God  will  permit  his  servants  to  accomplish  any 
great  and  good  results  by  reversing  the  grand  order 
of  appreciation  and  action  upon  which  he  himself  has 
laid  such  stress  ?  While  my  brethren  all  around  me, 
talented,  noble  men,  with  whom  I  should  delight  to 
fraternize  heartily  in  every  legitimate  work  of  our 
great  calling,  have  been  stepping  aside  to  embark 
upon  the  mighty  political  flood  which  has  dashed 
over  this  country  for  years,  and  while  they  have  been 
giving  their  choicest  and  boldest  strength  to  promote 
the  secular  freedom  of  the  bondman — in  the  calm,  un- 
uttered  retirement  of  my  own  heart,  I  have  enjoyed 
this  conviction :  If  in  sincere  obedience  to  God's  or- 
der I  love  and  long  for  the  temporal  liberty  of  our 
African  brethren  in  its  proper  secondary  place,  and 
if  I  give  to  the  immortal  emancipation  of  their  souls 
from  the  course  of  sin,  its  own  high,  primary  position — 
for  aught  I  know,  single  handed,  I  shall  do  more  for 
the  social  liberty  of  the  slaves  of  the  country  than 
the  whole  body  of  my  clerical  brethen  put  together, 
who  work  for  this  end  by  reversing  God's  order. 
God  says:  "Secular  liberty  second ."  The  man  of 
God  who  practically  says,  "  Secular  liberty  first" 


DESTRUCTIVE.  89 

may  ultimately  find  himself  very,  very  far  second  in 
all  the  good  work  achieved  in  this  important  field. 
For  surely  the  men  sworn  to  God — sworn  to  one 
thing  for  Q-od — sworn  to  seek  first  the  kingdom,  as 
above  all  secularities — sworn  to  stand  by  God's  spi- 
ritualities before  men  with  all  their  souls  even  unto 
death— if  they  studiously  separate  themselves  from  all 
the  agencies  set  up  by  their  fellow-servants  to  send 
salvation  to  the  perishing  bondmen  of  the  country ;  if 
they  seem  to  testify  no  sympathy  with  God's  great 
work  of  saving  hundreds  of  thousands  of  them  in  our 
day ;  if  God's  mighty  movement  from  generation  to 
generation,  of  floating  this  people  across  the  ocean 
back  to  their  own  home,  designed  peradventure  like 
the  exodus  of  Israel,  to  spread  a  great  light  over  that 
quarter  of  the  globe,  (a  thought  which  has  sent  an 
augmenting  thrill  of  hope  into  the  hearts  of  God's 
people,  from  the  days  of  George  Whitefield  to  the  pre- 
sent hour ;)  if  even  this  fails  to  stimulate  them  to  take 
part  with  us  in  working  to  regenerate  these  fellow- 
men  under  God  for  their  high  mission ;  on  the  con- 
trary, if,  before  the  whole  world,   our  brethren  go 
forth  amongst  carnal  men,  and  seem  rather  to  give 
their  whole  heart,  voice  and  hand,  to  drive  on  the 
temporal   emancipation  of  this  people,  why,  surely 
God  will  never  permit  them,  in  neglect  of  their  sworn 
work,  to  ride  over  his  spiritual  establishment,  and 
thus  accomplish  a  secular  achievement  to  which  he 
never  called  them,  and  in  a  way  which  lie  had  point- 
edly forbidden.    Never !  never !    I  am  speaking  very 


90  MODERN  REFORM. 

boldly ;  but  if  our  Reform  friends  will  bear  with  me, 
I  will  go  yet  a  little  farther,  and  venture  the  utterance 
of  a  private  thought.  When  the  wild  political  extra- 
vagances of  our  clerical  brethren  have  been  echoed 
back  upon  us  from  the  hustings  of  the  country,  after 
the  first  sad  impressions  had  passed  away,  a  gentle 
smile  has  sometimes  come  over  my  spirit,  as  some 
such  vision  as  this  sprang  up  to  my  fancy  :  A  female 
falls  into  the  river,  and  is  drowning.  A  man  on  the 
bank  flies  into  a  perfect  frenzy ;  he  shouts  and  leaps 
about  and  wrings  his  hands,  and  scatters  the  remain- 
ing wits  of  the  poor  woman,  which  might  perchance 
have  helped  her.  And  why  all  this  ado  ?  Why, 
forsooth !  Because  she  has  soiled  her  garments,  and 
is  likely  to  lose  them.  Now,  he  who  springs  down 
the  bank  and  plunges  into  the  stream,  saves  the  life 
of  the  woman,  'tis  true ;  but  I  insist  upon  it  this  is 
not  aU  he  does.  He  does  more  for  the  garments 
than  does  the  poor  man  upon  the  bank.  Clearly  he 
stands  upon  the  wrong  platform.  He  acts  upon  the 
wrong  principle.  He  wastes  his  breath  to  no  good 
purpose,  surely ;  for  he  stabs  his  own  propriety,  helps 
not  the  inferior  causs  which  concerns  him,  and  only 
damages  the  more  sacred  trust  he  stood  pledged  to 
protect. 

We  have  seen  that  this  Reform  movement  accom- 
plishes nothing  for  the  religion,  nothing  for  the  liberty 
of  the  slave;  but  in  its  (well-meant)  violence  throws  it- 
self in  the  way  of  both.  We  must  therefore  record 


DESTRUCTIVE.  91 

it  as  an  enterprise  every  way  hostile  to  the  welfare  cf 
the  cause  it  has  undertaken  to  plead. 

III.  RELIGION.  No  man  ever  perpetrated  so  great 
a  blunder  as  to  suppose,  that  love,  joy,  peace,  are  the 
fruits  of  this  spirit ;  nor  so  violent  a  disregard  of 
truth  as  to  deny  that  hostility,  confusion,  and  rupture, 
are  its  ordinary  products.  We  have  glanced  at  its 
mischiefs  to  the  spirit  and  order  of  families,  churches, 
and  societies;  of  conventions  and  parties,  literary, 
political,  and  religious.  Its  frequent  personal  ship- 
wrecks of  industry,  morality,  and  faith ;  and  its  re- 
surgings  in  infidelity,  atheism,  and  violence,  are 
equally  notorious.  These  obvious  fruits  suggest  the 
inquiry  whether  irreligion  is  not,  in  various  ways, 
the  natural  result  of  the  causes  set  in  operation  by 
this  movement.  Let  us  discuss  this  precise  question 
— How  does  the  Reform  enterprise  affect  the  great 
working  power  of  Christianity  ? 

1.  It  tends  to  overthrow  the  BIBLE. 

You  will  not  forget  that  two  things  define  fanati- 
cism. It  is  unreasonable  in  its  position,  and  im- 
practicable in  the  defense  of  it.  The  body,  soul,  and 
spirit  of  this  Reform  lies,  first,  in  ascribing  to  the 
instantaneous  liberty  of  the  slave  a  most  exaggerated 
importance ;  and  then  in  the  reckless  overthrow  of 
every  obstacle  to  its  achievement. 

(1.)  Let  us  seek  a  clear  view  of  the  Reformer's  un- 
reasonable assumption.  We  shall  facilitate  our  in- 
vestigation by  renewing  our  inquiry  concerning  the 
relative  value  of  spiritual  and  natural  liberty. 


92  MODERN   REFORM. 

What  does  God  teach  us  concerning  the  import- 
ance of  spiritual  liberty  ?  To  fix  man's  mind  upon 
spiritual  liberty,  its  every  constituent  element  is  dis- 
tinctly held  up  to  him  from,  the  beginning  to  the 
end  of  Scripture^  To  secure  man's  just  estimate  of 
spiritual  liberty,  while  God  affirms  the  supreme  obli- 
gation and  preeminent  preciousness  of  its  every  pro- 
perty, he  pronounces  all  else  "  vanity  of  vanities." 
To  enforce  man's  personal  appropriation  of  spiritual 
liberty,  God  enlists  all  the  atonement  of  his  Son,  all 
the  sanctions  of  his  law,  all  the  counsels  of  his  wis- 
dom, all  the  encouragements  of  his  grace,  and  all  the 
energies  of  his  Spirit 

"What  now  does  God  teach  us  concerning  the 
value  of  natural  liberty  ?  It  would  seem  as  if  God 
esteemed  it  relatively  so  infinitely  unimportant  as 
hardly  to  be  worthy  of  one  distinct  notice  in  the  same 
book;  as  if  God  judged  that,  like  the  duty  of  self- 
defense,  it  was  distinctly  recorded  in  the  structure  of 
the  soul,  and  needed  no  additional  demonstration  or 
stimulation  from  his  word.  The  tyrants  and  masters 
of  old  were  daily  invading  the  natural  liberties  of 
men  before  the  eyes  of  Jesus  and  .his  Apostles.  They 
did  not  seem,  however,  to  have  entertained  the  most 
distant  imagination  of  any  wild  enterprises  to  sub- 
vert the  order  of  society  for  its  protection,  but  ever 
commanded  subjects  and  servants  to  obey  their  su- 
periors. Who  stands  before  Peter?  (2  Pet  2  :  18.) 
A  slave !  What  is  his  character  ?  He  "  does  well  I  " 
Who  is  his  master!  A  "froward  man."  What  is 


DESTRUCTIVE.  93 

his  conduct !  He  "  buffets"  his  slave  until  he  causes 
him  "  to  endure  grief,  and  suffer  wrongfully  1 "  Shall 
not  such  a  causeless  abuse  of  natural  liberty  warrant 
some  setting  aside  of  this  relation ;  at  least  some  mo- 
mentary interference  with  the  order  and  peace  of  so- 
ciety, to  punish  such  cruelty  and  deliver  the  oppress- 
ed ?  No  1  Peter  and  the  Gospel  command  that  the 
injured  man  "take  it  patiently,"  and  be  "subject  to 
his  master"  still. 

Now  I  hold  all  this  the  most  natural  and  powerful 
indorsement  of  that  most  simple  and  explicit  teach 
ing  of  Holy  Writ  heretofore  referred  to,  wherein  God 
once  for  all  contrasts  %earthly  and  heavenly  liberty. 
"  Art  thou  called,  being  a  slave  ?  "  (Doubts,  1  Cor. 
7  :  21.)  This  man,  you  perceive,  has  lost  his  natural 
liberty.  How  shall  he .  graduate  this  calamity  ? 
"What  shall  he  do?  Shall  he  lay  it  to  heart  as 
though  he  had  lost  his  all?  .Shall  he  up-turn  the 
whole  framework  of  society  in  order  to  regain  it? 
No,  indeed  I  It  is  God  who  says :  "  CARE  NOT  FOR 
IT."  (1  Cor.  7 :  21.)  Naturally  enough,  just  at  this 
point  is  one  of  nature's  most  reckless  and  hopeless 
rebellions  against  God.  It  is  in  vain  that  God,  in 
the  spirit  of  Scripture  teaching,  thus  reasons  with 
man.  "  Feel  not  for  an  instant  as  though  all  good 
were  gone.  They  deceive  you  who  tell«  you  so. 
Slave  though  you  be,  every  supreme  good  is  left  you. 
You  can  be  like  mo.  You  can  love  me.  You  can 

/G  me.    You  can  enjoy  me.    You  can  have  a 
record  in  heaven,  and  heaven's  God  in  your  heart. 


94  MODERN  REFORM. 

You  can  show  men  true  religion,  and  help  me  to 
save  men.  All  this  just  as  well  where  you  are,  as 
anywhere."  But  is  not  personal  liberty  a  most 'pre- 
cious right,  and  in  itself  vastly  preferable  to  a  state 
of  slavery  ?  Yes !  most  assuredly !  And  should  it 
come  in  your  way  consistently  with  the  rules  of  the 
Gospel  and  the  order  of  society — "  if  thou  mayst  le 
free,  use- it  rather"  But  so  sweet  is  liberty  to  fallen 
nature,  that  these  divine  conditions  are  an  insuffer- 
able bondage,  and  man  exclaims :  "  Why  may  I  not 
get  into  an  agony,  and  break  my  way  out  of  this 
horrid  oppression?"  Because  you  thereby  perpe- 
trate the  monstrous  madness  of  our  Reformer !  You 
thereby  perpetrate  an  act  of  injustice  as  far  surpass- 
ing that  of  the  slave-maker,  as  in  dignity  the  mind 
surpasses  the  body  !  Pause  and  reflect !  If  you  are 
only  converted,  though  a  slave  to  man,  you  are  "  the 
Lord's  freeman ! ! "  THE  "FREEMAN"  OF  THE  LORD. 
(1  Cor.  7  :  22.)  This  is  the  boon !  This  is  the  great 
thing!  This  YOUR  ALL  IN  ALL!  Observe  now! 
If  you  will  not  realize  this  divine  teaching;  if  in 
judgment,  feeling,  and  practice,  you  will  not  give  to 
spiritual  liberty  that  supreme  importance  which 
belongs  to  an  infinite  and  eternal  good;  on  the 
contrary,  if  you  will  practically,  rebelliously  in- 
sist upon  according  to  natural  liberty  the  supreme 
concern  of  your  soul,  though  it  is  but  a  transient, 
secular  blessing,  then  mark  these  three  results.  You 
irreparably  destroy  the  order  of  your  mind.  The 
working  of  any  rational  nature  with  such  a  prodi- 


DESTRUCTIVE.  95 

gious  dislocation, must  up-turn  it  from  its  foundation. 
What  grand  truths  must  be  thrown  down !  "What 
stupendous  errors  set  up !  What  mighty  interests 
trodden  under  foot!  What  sacred  obligations  cast 
aside !  You  irreparably  destroy  the  life  of  your  soul. 
To  the  mind  that  works  with  this  dislocation,  religion 
is  a  precise  impossibility.  Your  supreme  affection, 
bestowed  upon  the  infinitely  inferior  carnal  object, 
can  not  at  the  same  time  rest  upon  the  infinitely  su- 
perior spiritual  object;  and  were  there  no  natural  im- 
possibility in  the  way,  would  the  God  of  heaven 
give  his  salvation  and  himself  to  a  rational  creature 
deliberately,  inflexibly  bent  upon  practically  pouring 
such  awful  contempt  upon  both  ?  You  irreparably 
overthrow  the  grand  platform  of  the  world's  redemp- 
tion. The  principle  of  this  dislocation  carried  out, 
necessarily  overthrows  the  order  of  society.  In  the 
nature  of  things,  the  peace  and  order  of  society  is 
indispensable  to  the  progress  of  the  plan  of  salvation. 
To  reach  and  enjoy  spiritual  liberty,  we  know  that 
by  a  mighty  change,  as  from  death  to  life,  the  heart 
must  give  to  religion  its  supreme  affections  first,  and 
services  next.  Clearly,  therefore,  the  soul  must  enjoy 
j'-i'-Hities  for  so  doing.  Facilities  for  reflection,  read- 
ing, hearing;  for  the  calm  carrying  out  of  convic- 
tion in  faith,  repentance,  and  obedience ;  facilities  for 
all  the  undisturbed  mental  processes,  and  all  the  con- 
sistent practical  exhibitions  incident  to  the  acquisi- 
tion and  exercise  of  true  religion ;  in  a  word,  facili- 
ties which  demand  a  settled,  orderly,  social  state. 


96  MODERN  BEFORE. 

He  therefore  wrongs  heaven  and  earth  who  makes 
all  things  tributary  to  the  building  up  in  his  soul  of  this 
predominant  sentiment,  namely — escape  from  slavery 
is  the  one  thing  needful;  therefore  the  pillars  of  society, 
and  all  else  in  the  way,  may  be  up-turned  to  reach  it. 
Study  acutely  the  condition  of  this  mind.  The  man 
is  fearfully  blind.  He  does  not  see  the  relations  of 
God  and  man  ;  the  great  end  of  all  things  on  earth ; 
why  time  was  placed  before  eternity;  why  Jesus 
Christ  came  into  the  world.  He  does  not  see 
that  earth,  air,  light ;  food,  raiment,  shelter ;  ranks, 
trades,  professions ;  blessings,  curses,  changes ;  liber- 
ty, slavery,  law ;  yea !  all  things  and  states  on  earth, 
are  but  a  staging,  a  great  platform,  built  up  at  infinite 
cost,  simply  that  in  the  calm,  undisturbed  use  of  the 
Word,  Son,  and  Spirit  of  God,  man,  before  he  is 
to-morrow  destroyed  for  eternity — accountable,  im- 
mortal, blood-bought  man — though  he  lose  all  else, 
may  come  to  acquire  spiritual  liberty  !  No,  he  does 
not  see  that  for  the  work  of  the  Gospel,  for  the  pro- 
gress of  God's  great  plan  of  mercy,  society  must  be 
kept  quiet,  and  its  order  undisturbed,  even  though 
many  inferior  matters  be  left  in  disorder  for  the 
present.  In  fine,  it  comes  to  this — this  man  'does  not 
see  that  the  religion  of  Jesus  Christ  is  the  supreme 
good  of  man,  but  in  his  blind  outrage  of  all  justice 
and  reason,  he  casts  down  all  the  great  things  of  God 
and  his  kingdom,  to  lift  up  in  their  stead  an  overrated, 
transient,  earthly  good. 

Thank  Heaven !    whatever  be  the  blindness   of 


PESTilUCTIW..  97 

man,  there  is  no  darkness  in  the  Scriptures.  They 
teach,  explicitly  this  doctrine.  On  the  one  hand, 
slavery,  independent  of  circumstances — slavery  in 
the  abstract — is  both  a  clear  wrong  and  a  great  mis- 
chief; and  consequently,  as  a  natural  right  arid  a 
most  valuable  earthly  good,  we  are  bound  to  secure 
to  every  child  of  Adam  his  natural  liberty,  so  far  as 
this  end  can  be  effected  wisely,  quietly,  legally.  On 
the  other,  to  be  a  freeman  of  the  Lord,  is,  beyond  all 
comparison,  man's  first  great  duty  and  blessing ;  and 
lest  we  depreciate  and  every  way  damage  the  infinite- 
ly more  important  right  and  good  of  spiritual  liberty, 
in  ourselves  and  others,  we  are  not  to  unsettle  estab- 
lished order ;  we  are  not  to  disturb  the  peace  of  so- 
ciety ;  we  are  not  to  risk  the  foundations  of  the  cause 
of  Christ,  in  order  to  free  the  slave.  Bather,  for  the 
furtherance  of  the  paramount  interests  of  the  race, 
and  the  glory  of  God,  for  the  present  "Let  every 
man  abide  in  the  same  calling  wherein  he  is  called" 
(1  Cor.  7  :  20.) 

I  need  hardly  say  that  the  truths  advanced  have 
reference  to  all  ordinary  states  of  society.  When- 
ever there  arises  such  an  extraordinary  state  of  things, 
that  universal  advantage  would  be  the  clear  result  of 
a  general  change,  that  moment  "  the  powers  that  be" 
have  no  legitimate  authority,  and  the  right  of  revo- 
lution vests.  Of  this,  the  word  of  God  says  nothing, 
probably  for  two  reasons — such  a  state  of  society 
rarely  occurs;  and  when  it  does,  man  will  be  prompt 
enough  both  to  see  and  to  improve  it. 
5 


98  MODEKN  REFORM. 

(2.)  Let  us  now  seek  a  clear  view  of  the  Reformer's 
impracticable  maintenance  of  his  unreasonable  as- 
•  sumption. 

Observe  his  dilemma.  In  his  fanaticism,  he  has 
taken  wrong  ground.  He  practically  places  man's 
social  liberty  high  above  his  soul's  salvation  and  all 
the  immortal  interests  of  Christ's  kingdom.  This  is 
his  first  grand  mistake.  The  Bible,  you  perceive,  lies 
directly  across  his  path.  He  can  not  get  by,  to  reach 
his  end.  What  will  he  do  ?  Will  he  bow  to  God's 
word,  and  give  way  ?  Never !  if  his  fanaticism  is 
mature.  Fanaticism  is  impracticable.  The  Bible 
must  give  way.  This  is  his  second  grand  error,  and 
completes  his  mental  disorder.  To  a  sane  mind,  he 
can  never  justify  his  course.  To  sustain  his  own,  he 
flies  to  a  two-fold  philosophy.  He  affirms  first :  He 
who  gave  man  his  nature,  gave  him  for  his  govern- 
ment, great  "  natural  feelings ',"  mighty,  invincible  "in- 
stincts" By  these,  as  a  last  resort,  he  must  judge  all 
things.  Therefore,  if  the  Bible  crosses  his  instincts, 
the  Bible  must  be  set  aside.  This  ground  our  bold 
Reformers  assumed  early  in  the  controversy ;  to  this 
ground  men  in  better  standing,  and  even  ministers  of 
the  Gospel,  under  the  influence  of  a  growing  Anti- 
Slavery  feeling,  have  been  ever  since  insensibly 
tending ;  and  this  ground  some  of  our  best  men,  yet 
more  deeply  impregnated  with  the  virus  of  this  epi- 
demic, have  recently  avowed. 

In  matters  of  life  and  death  eternal,  man,  then,  is 
to  find  a  guide  in  his  instincts,  is  he  ?  Wretched  de- 


DESTRUCTIVE.  09 

lusion  !  Preposterous  argument  1  I  defy  any  mind 
on  earth  to  trace  out  the  gulfs  which  separate  the 
greater  violence  of  man's  instincts  against  God's  inva- 
sion of  his  liberty,  from  the  lesser  violence  of  his  in- 
stincts against  man's  invasion  of  his  liberty !  God 
made  man  holy,  and  gave  him  a  perfect  law.  This 
was  justice.  God  brings  me  into  the  world  without 
a  solitary  remnant  of  original  holiness,  and  full  of 
all  sin,  and  yet  holds  me  to  the  same  law  I  Where  is 
justice  now  ?  He  first  destroys  all  my  power,  and 
then  commands  me,  under  peril  of  hell,  to  do  as  if  I 
had  all  power !  Oh !  the  instincts !  the  strength  of 
those  apostate  instincts  which  fly  in  the  face  of  God 
at  the  very  thought  of  the  stern,  unreduced  demands 
of  his  law  !  I  If,  now,  man  is  to  go  by  his  instincts, 
away !  a\py !  for  ever,  with  the  rectitude  of  God ! 
Is  this,  my  friend,  your  progress  f  To  get  off  from 
the  terra  fir  ma  of  God's  omniscience  in  the  Bible,  to 
the  crazy  instincts  of  a  fallen  nature !  Yes  1  It  is 
the  progress  of  the  ship  which  has  parted  her  last 
cable  and  like  lightning  is  driven  by  the  gale  directly 
upon  the  breaJcers  !  God  save  his  Church  in  our  day, 
from  the  progress  of  this'  Reform  I  But  you  see  how 
it  is.  The  man  who  will  advance  this  Reform,  must 
leave  the  Bible  behind. 

To  support  his  reckless  assumption,  the  Reformer 
flies  to  his  second  defense.  The  developments  oftpro- 
videncel  the  light  of  the  age!  demand  that  we 
place  this  high  estimate  upon  the  value  of  natural 
liberty.  The  Scriptures  were  given  to  man  in  a  dark 


100  MODEKN"  IlEFORiT. 

period  of  human  history.  God  gave  light  to  men  as 
they  were  able  to  bear  it.  Little  was  said  of  liberty 
then,  because  little  could  be  appreciated.  But — we  of 
this  nineteenth  century !  "We — of  this  age  of  progress ! 
"We — especially,  of  this  only  free  country  under  hea- 
ven !  By  the  discussions  which  have  been  evolved, 
the  principles  which  have  been  reached,  and  the  in- 
stincts which  have  been  awakened,  we  do  certainly 
feel  and  know  more  of  the  natural  equality  of  all 
men,  of  the  inalienable  right  of  every  child  of  Adam 
to  a  personal  liberty  instantaneous,  unabridged,  and 
perfect ;  far,  far  more  than  any  prior  generation.  So 
clearly  do  we  see  and  feel  the  broad,  deep,  impregna- 
ole  foundations  of  truth,  of  heaven's  truth  upon  -this 
subject  of  liberty,  that  nothing  could  increase  our 
conviction  that  the  Apostles  and  the  Saviour  himself, 
were  they  present,  would  take  ground  instantly  and 
indignantly  with  us. 

But  say,  friend!  does  not  the  light  of  revela- 
tion exactly  extinguish  your  light  of  providence? 
Does  not  the  Bible  bring  up  this  whole  subject,  in  all 
its  governing  relations  ?  Does  it  not  treat  of  natural 
liberty — of  natural  liberty  as  affected  by  slavery — 
of  natural  liberty  in  its  relation  to  spiritual  liberty  ? 
Does  it  not  decide  clearly  their  relative  importance  ? 
Does  it  not  teach  us  undeniably  that  the  one  is  of 
smay.  value,  that  the  importance  of  the  other  is  in- 
comprehensible ?  Does  it  not  teach  that  the  one  is 
therefore  to  give  way  to  the  other  in  all  things? 
Does  it  not  require  the  slave  to  be  content  with  his 


DESTRUCTIVE.  101 

condition,  and  neither  take  nor  be  allowed  to  take 
any  such  steps  as  would  endanger  that  peace  and  or- 
der of  society  so  necessary  to  the  progress  of  the 
paramount  cause  of  man's  spiritual  liberty?  To 
secure  this  end,  does  not  the  Bible  enact  a  class  of 
rules  ft*  the  conduct  of  the  slave,  and  therefore  for 
his  continuance  as  a  slave  f  for  the  conduct  of  the 
master,  and  therefore  for  his  continuance  as  a  master  ? 
While  these  rules  faithfully  carried  out  will  assuredly 
work  off  the  worst  evils  of  the  relation  now,  and 
ultimately  the  relation  itself,  and  all  in  the  happiest 
possible  manner,  does  not  the  Bible  at  the  same  time 
Condemn  and  forbid  all  agency  upon  your  doctrine, 
since  the  first  attempt  to  enforce  it  disorganizes  soci- 
ety? "We  affirm  now,  that  these  teachings  of  the 
word  of  God  do  take  up  and  settle  these  questions 
for  ever.  Do  you  deny  it  ?  Say,  friend !  Was  not 
natural  liberty  then — what  natural  liberty  is  now  ?  Is 
not  spiritual  liberty  now — what  spiritual  liberty  was 
then  ?  Are  the  natures  and  relations  of  these  two 
elements  one  whit  changed  by  the  flow  of  time  ?  If 
Divinity  itself  were  now  to  speak  out,  would  it  in- 
form us  that  providential  developments  had  so  lifted 
up  natural  liberty  essentially  toward  the  essence  -of 
spiritual  liberty,  and  so  degraded  spiritual  liberty 
essentially  toward  the  essence  of  natural  liberty,  that 
old  laws  must  be  abrogated,  and  a  new  code  intro- 
duced to  meet  the  necessities  of  the  case  ?  Prepos- 
terous conception ! 
Besides,  if  such  a  doctrine  is  to  be  endured  for  an 


102  MODERN  REFORM. 

instant,  where  is  my  Bible  ?  "What  solitary  inch  of 
sure  footing  have  I  in  all  the  word  of  God  ?  If  a 
matter  so  clearly,  so  finally  settled  by  the  old  light, 
is  at  the  mercy  of  any  new  light  which  may  be  start- 
ed up  in  the  successions  of  time  by  a  fallen  heart 
ever  leaping  into  false  discoveries  all  aroundjpie  to 
relieve  the  embarrassments  of  its  depravity,  what  one 
truth  have  I  that  may  not  in  like  manner  be  taken 
from  me  ?  Yes !  and  what  do  you  bring  me  in  the 
place  of  my  Bible?  The  light  of  providence!  But  how 
do  you  reach  it  ?  Does  God  tell  you  that  suck  is  the 
light  of  his  providence  ?  Come,  my  friend ;  march 
frankly  up  to  this  question  and  tell  me.  What  evi- 
dence have  you  that  such  is  the  teaching  of  God's 
providence  in  this  day  ?  There  are  the  providential 
developments,  you  say  1  Grant  it  I  But  what  do 
they  declare  ?  What  voice  do  they  utter  ?  What 
lesson  do  they  teach  ?  You  say :  "  They  teach  my 
doctrine."  How  do  you  know  that  ?  Advance  di- 
rectly to  the  point,  and  tell  me  !  How,  how  do  you 
know  it  ?  Why,  your  fallible  intelligence  thinks  so. 
Yes !  and  this  is  all !  this  is  all !  Ah  1  what  have 
you  done  ?  You  have  taken  away  my  Bible  from 
me  I  You  have  taken  away  from  me  the  only  sure 
light !  the  light  of  God's  infallible,  truth  !  My  fellow- 
man,  did  you  but  know  what  God  knows,  you  would 
feel  that  I  have  a  solemn  right  to  exclaim,  "  What  a 
robber  you  are !"  Nor  is  even  this  the  limit  of  your 
malice  I  Behold  I  You  have  embarked  me  again  on 
that  broad  and  shoreless  ocean  of  doubt  and  dark- 


DESTRUCTIVE.  103 

ness  which  overwhelmed  my  race  at  the  fall,  with  no 
better  bottom  under  me  than  your  own  wretched, 
wretched  inferences  !  My  fellow-man !  My  heart  feels 
no  unkindness  to  you.  But  I  will  tell  you  what  I  do 
deeply  think  and  feel.  If  you  but  saw  what  I  judge 
God  sees,  the  conviction  would  flash  upon  you,  that  no 
fiend  of  the  pit  could  pronounce  a  more  fearful  curse 
upon  our  whole  race  than  you  have  inflicted.  This  is  my 
judgment.  Alas  !  what  a  difference  between  us  !  You 
have  given  up  divine  revelation,  and  gone  back  into  the 
blackness  of  the  apostasy :  And  with  you,  this  is  com- 
ing out  into  the  light,  is  it  ?  Ah  I  were  your  new 
light  doctrine  only  true,  well  might  we  exclaim :  "  If 
the  foundations  be  destroyed,  what  can  the  righteous 
do?"  Thank  God!  the  foundations  are  not  gone 
yet.  The  Bible  is  the  word  of  God !  The  word  of 
God,  not  to  a  dark  generation,  but  to  man  I  to  uni- 
versal man  I  to  men  of  all  climes  and  ages  I  Yes  I 
and  this  testimony  of  God  is  sure  I  "  The  Scripture 
can  not  be  broken  /"  "  The  counsel  of  the  Lord  stand- 
eth  for  ever !  The  thoughts  of  his  heart  to  all  gene- 
rations." This  infallible,  immutable  record  has  set- 
tled every  grand  question  touching  this  relation  of 
master  and  servant — and  settled  it  for  ever — and  no 
new  lights  struck  up  by  man,  shall  ever,  ever  unset- 
tle them. 

But  if  the  Bible  is  sure  to  faith,  you  see  how  it  is 
with*  the  friend  who  would  advance  this  Keform.  He 
must  consent  to  part  with  the  Bible,  this  one  only 
sneet-anchor  for  apostate  humanity. 


104  MODERN   REFORM. 

2.  This  Ileform  tends  to  the  overthrow  of  the  pulpit. 
How  deep  the  need  that  man  should  hear  the  voice 
of  God !  Salvation  from  hell  is  in  it !  How  deaf  the 
ear  of  fallen  nature  to  this  voice  of  God  !  The  natural 
man  receiveth  not  the  things  of  the  Spirit.  God  built 
the  pulpit  to  meet  this  case.  And  what  a  solemn 
work  God  did  when  he  reared  that  most  holy  place  f 

God. built  the  pulpit  on  the  blood  of  his  Son,  that  lie 
might  be  allowed  to  speak  ;  on  the  trampled  majesty 
of  his  throne,  that  man  might  be  spared  to  hear. 
What  a  foundation !  What  an  affluent,  awful  found- 
ation !  That  man's  ear  might  not  be  diverted  from 
the  voice  of  the  pulpit,  God  stills  all  the  noises  of 
earth  for  four  and  twenty  hours ;  that  man's  whole 
soul  might  be  awed  to  imbibe  its  utterance,  God  built 
that  pulpit  in  the  heart  of  the  Holy  of  Holies,  and 
gave  command  that  every  child  of  Adam,  when  he 
touched  its  sacred  threshold,  should  revere  as  did  the 
high-priest,  on  the  tenth  of  Abib,  when  in  his  linen 
garments,  with  uncovered  head  and  feet,  he  entered 
God's  awful  presence  for  a  moment,  with  the  blood 
of  atonement,  to  confess  his  sins,  and  the  sins  of 
the  people.  What  provision  this,  for  audience ! 
What  a  loud  cry  from  heaven :  "Attention,  man !" 
To  give  sealing  power  to  the  pulpit,  in  the  midst  of 
the  temple  God  lifts  up  his  own  voice,  and  proclaims 
to  his  embassador,  "  He  that  heareth  you,  heareth  me ; 
he  that  despiseth  you,  despiseth  me :"  to  the  people: 
"  He  that  believeth,  shall  be  saved  ;  he  that  belie v- 
eth  not,  shall  be  damned." 


DESTRUCTIVE.  105 

Thus,  at  an  immense  expenditure  of  authority, 
self-denial,  and  blood,  did  God  build  the  sacred  pul- 
pit. Why  1  Why  I  At  the  foundation  of  all  this, 
there  must  lie  a  stupendous  truth.  Man  must,  must 
hear  it.  What  is  that  truth  ?  You  find  God's  thought 
in  man's  state.  There  is  one  voice  to  which  the  earth 
can  not  afford  to  be  deaf.  What  voice  is  this  ?  It  is 
the  voice  of  salvation  I  Let  the  world  hear^; ;  let 
the  ministry  never  forget  it ;  God  built  the  pulpit  at 
enormous  cost,  exclusively,  emphatically  to  utter  the 
voice  of  salvation!  Lest  all  this  costly  outlay  be  wast- 
ed upon  matters  inconceivably  unimportant  in  the 
comparison,  lest  this  august  sacredness  be  destroyed, 
and  the  perishing  earth  fail  of  the  saving  blessing 
that  is  in  it,  never,  never  let  the  pulpit  utter  one  soli- 
tary note  but  the  note  of  salvation.  Preach  the 
word  !  Preach  the  Gospel !  This,  this  is  the  law  of 
the  pulpit  I  Oh !  yes,  yes !  if  at  such  amazing  expense 
God  has  built  up  one  place  on  eartifc  where  one  man 
may  stand  and  speak  for  the  life  of  a  dead  world, 
never,  never  let  the  messenger  of  God  profane  that 
sacred  place,  and  damage  the  life  of  the  race. 

How  shall  we  preserve  the  costly,  invaluable  pow- 
er of  the  pulpit  ?  The  power  of  the  pulpit  is  largely 
committed  to  the  keeping  of  the  preacher.  Its  con- 
secration or  its  desecration  depends  simply  upon  its 
use.  Utter  in  the  pulpit  nothing  but  salvation,  and 
always  in  the  spirit  that  becomes  the  manner  of  its 
erection,  and  the  magnitude  of  its  end,  and  you  uphold 
the  power  of  the  pulpit.  But  utter  one  word  else 

5* 


106  -  MODERN  REFORM. 

than  salvation,  or  salvation's  word  without  its  spirit, 
and  remember  this,  the  constitution  of  things  must 
be  crushed,  or  you  must  crush  the  power  of  the  pul- 
pit. The  key  which  unlocks  this  subject,  is  this: 
Man  feels  the  awful  authority  of  God's  pulpit,  but,  a 
sinner,  he  agonizes  to  get  away  from  it.  If,  therefore, 
man  on  earth  ever  takes  an  ell,  where  only  an  inch 
was  given,  it  is  precisely  here.  By  the  introduction 
of  anomer  topic,  or  spirit,  let  the  pulpit,  the  awful 
pulpit  itself,  but  once  authorize  the  hearer  to  turn 
aside  from  the  message  of  God,  and  for  aught  I  know, 
that  pulpit  may  thereby  have  lost  its  power  over  that 
sinner  wjiile  he  breathes  on  earth.  Judge,  then,  the 
responsibilities  of  the  ministry,  in  view  of  the  fol- 
lowing facts.  It  is  the  hardest  task  in  the  world  for 
the  minister  to  enter  the  pulpit  with  a  heart  fired 
with  salvation,  and  the  easiest  to  enter  that  desk 
without  a  heart  on  fire,  or  with  the  fire  of  an  unholy 
heart.  It  is  thr  hardest  exploit  in  the  world  to  lift 
up  the  attention  of  the  people  to  the  voice  of  the 
pulpit,  and  the  easiest  to  let  down  that  attention  to 
any  other  topic.  It  is  the  hardest  achievement  in  the 
world  to  regain  the  lost  conscience  of  the  people,  but 
nothing  is  so  easy  as  to  drive  the  hearer  farther  and 
farther  from  the  holy  power  of  truth.  Experiment 
upon  this  subject.  Let  the  man  of  God  profane  the 
pulpit,  and  display  his  learning,  or  try  the  charms  of 
style,  'or  give  himself  to  speculation,  or  do  aught  else 
than  preach  the  Gospel.  It  is  a  grand  relief;  for 
man  loves  sin,  and  agonizing  truth  is  not  now  bear- 


DESTRUCTIVE.  107 

ing  down  upon  the  sinner's  conscience :  nor  is  this 
all ;  for  the  sinner  is  authorized,  and  authorized  by 
God's  awful  pulpit,  to  turn  away  from  salvation  and 
think  of  something  else  in  the  house  of  God.  Yes ! 
only  let  the  hearer  feel  that  what  you  say  is  not  Gos- 
pel truth,  or  if  it  is,  that  your  deepest  soul  refuses  to 
indorse  it  because  you  do  not  press  the  message  for 
his  conviction,  and  what  is  the  issue  ?  You  have 
lost  the  power  to  reach  his  conscience,  and  he  the  power 
to  feel  the  claims  of  the  pulpit.  Ah  !  if  these  things 
be  so,  what  havoc !  what  profane  and  fearful  havoc, 
is  wrought  upon  the  sacredness  and  the  power  of  the 
pulpit,  when  by  a  secular  topic  the  minister  takes 
direct  hold  upon  the  secular  heart  and  fires  it  up 
with  the  strong  and  bitter  feelings  that  are  blazing 
all  over  the  land  !  Behold  that  congregation  !  It  is 
divided  into  two  hostile  parties.  During  the  politi- 
cal discourse,  while  nature  in  one  rises  up  against  the 
utterances  of  the  desk,  and  chafes  under  the  con- 
sciousness that  he  is  doomed  to  sit  still  and  hear  an 
adverse,  one-sided  political  harangue,  and  that  from 
the  pulpit ;  nature  in  the  other  triumphs  in  the  hard 
blows  inflicted  not  by  a  street  politician,  but  by  all 
the  sacred  authority  of  the  pulpit.  Most  clearly,  by 
all  the  thoughts  and  feelings  aroused  in  that  whole 
audience,  the  pulpit,  the  sacred  pulpit,  has  turned  out 
the  soul  of  salvation,  and  brought  another  world  on 
fire  bodily  into  the  house  of  God  1  God  only  knows 
whether  there  is  one  man  among  us  holy  and  wise 
enough,  at  such  a  time,  to  be  intrusted  with  the  deli- 


108  MODERN   REFORM. 

•  _         , 

very  of  a  single  sermon  on  such  a  subject.  I  say  not 
that  a  minister  is  never,  on  any  occasio*n,  to  refer  to 
the  acts  of  the  government  in  his  pulpit.  But  I  do 
say,  that  in  my  judgment,  such  references  are  far  too 
common  and  careless  in  my  day.  I  do  say  that  the 
sacredness  of  the  pulpit,  its  power  to  command  the 
holy  attention  of  the  people  to  Gospel  truth — that 
very  power  for  which  God  laid  out  so  immense  an 
expenditure — that  very  power  the  preservation  of 
which  is  of  such  unspeakable  import  to  the  earth,  is 
placed  in  imminent  peril  by  every  such  discourse. 
That  sacred  pulpit  must  suffer,  if  the  minister  is  not 
a  man  of  eminent  personal  holiness.  Common  poli- 
tical excitement  is  daily  prompting  a  nation  of  men 
to  vehement  political  utterances  in  every  circle  and 
station  of  life.  That  God's  sworn  servant  may  not 
seem  to  profane  the  pulpit  by  the  introduction  of  a 
common  worldly  spirit,  the  exemplary  holiness  of 
his  every  day  life  should  protect  him  from  such  an 
imputation,  even  by  the  most  violent  political  advo- 
cates of  the  government.  That  sacred  pulpit  must 
suffer,  if  the  party  spirit  of  the  "day  has  not  been 
most  religiously  avoided  by  this  good  man.  Since 
no  minister  of  Jesus  Christ  may  bring  into  his  pul- 
pit one  solitary  thought  which  has  not  been  called 
up  by  a  heart  heaving  with  the  love  of  God,  and 
swelling 'with  the  salvation  of  men,  and  since  every 
human  heart  is  so  deceitful,  no  servant  of  Jesus 
Christ  should  dare  to  bring  such  a  topic  into  the  desk, 
who  has  not  anxiously  besought  the  heart-searcjiinga 


DESTRUCTIVE.  109 

of  liis  Master,  that  he  might  not  be  left  with  sacrile- 
gious hand  to  mar  earth's  most  sacred,  mighty,  and 
delicate  engine  of  salvation,  by  mistaking  the  spi- 
rit of  politics  for  the  spirit  of  piety.  That  sacred 
pulpit  must  suffer,  if  this  good  man  has  not  only 
carefully  avoided  an  evil  spirit,  but  if  his  soul  is  not 
filled  with  the  Holy  Ghost  at  the  time.  At  a  mo- 
ment when  the  hearts  of  all  the  people  are  blazing 
with  the  carnalities  of  the  very  subject  he  handles, 
nothing  short  of  a  divine  inspiration,  nothing  short  of 
the  very  workings  of  the  Holy  Ghost  in  the  soul  of 
the  preacher,  could  command  the  hearer  to  forget  the 
partyism  of  the  day,  and  feel  himself  in  the  very 
presence  of  God.  Yes !  nothing  but  the  spirit  of 
God  himself,  cauld  make  that  tempted  mortal  so  self- 
governed  and  solemn,  so  gentle  and  charitable,  so 
spiritual  and  wise,  as  he  must  be  to  save  his  pulpit 
from  desecration  and  his  people  from  sin.  Finally  : 
that  sacred  pulpit  must  suffer,  in  which  political  dis- 
cussions, in  party  times,  arc  as  common  as  are  the 
alleged  outrages  of  the  government. 

To  the  frequency  of  political  discussions  in  the 
pulpit,  it  is  an  objection  that  the  topic  is  too%secular 
in  its  elements,  too  far  from  that  Gospel  which  alone  we 
are  commanded  to  proclaim.  God's  embassadors  are 
not  commissioned  to  lecture  States,  but  preach  to 
men ;  an  operation,  by  the  way,  which  the^enius  of 
his  calling,  and  the  nature  of  his  power  pronounce 
by  far  his  best  method  of  reforming  the  state.  It  is 
too  profanely  exciting  in  its  bearings.  Reverence 


110  MODERN   REFORM. 

'..t 

for  the  pulpit  in  its  nature  is  a  gentle  spirit ;  in  fallen 
man,  a  feeble  one.  In  the  very  house  of  God,  where  it 
finds  its  highest  protection,  to  throw  this  tender, 
sacred,  precious  thing  into  the  jaws  of  the  most 
violent  workings  of  carnal  nature,  is  the  perfection 
of  indiscretion.  It  tends,  too,  quite  as  frequently  to 
mislead  and  to  aggravate,  as  to  instruct  and  assuage ; 
especially  since  the  accurate  comprehension  of  the 
foreign  topic  often  requires  a  wider,  keener,  closer  in- 
vestigation, than  a  minister  can  ordinarily  afford  to 
prosecute.  Above  all,  as  an  official  procedure,  it 
finds  but  little  countenance,  either  in  the  example  or 
the  teachings  of  Jesus  Christ  and  his  Apostles.  While 
they  command  us  to  honor  our  rulers,  and  forbid  us 
to  speak  evil  of  dignities,  we  search  in  vain  for  any 
clear  authority  which  subjects  the  alleged  misdeeds 
of  government  to  the  arbitrary  discipline  of  the  pul- 
pit. Woe  to  that  people,  pulpit,  and  priest,  where 
politics  is  brought  into  the  desk  in  an  incautious,  un- 
^mxious,  or  hard  and  bitter  spirit ;  where  the  charac- 
ter and  habits  of  the  minister  leave  a  holy  man  in 
some  doubt  whether  his  pastor  watches  for  souls  as 
earnestly  as  for  the  political  crimes  of  adverse  rulers ; 
where  they  awaken  a  prevailing  conviction  in  a  polit- 
ical opponent  that  his  pulpit  would  not  so  certainly 
speak  out  against  the  governmental  violence  if  it  had 
been  perpetrated  by  his  own  party ;  and  where  they 
accustom  every  member  of  his  congregation  to  pre- 
dict that  just  as  certainly  as  there  occurs  in  the  ad- 
ministration of  the  government,  any  such  movement 


DESTRUCTIVE.  Ill 

as  arouses  the  feelings  of  his  party,  so  surely  this  man 
of  God  shall  embark  the  strongest  energies  of  his 
soul  in  fulminating  a  fiery  pulpit  assault  upon  the 
powers  that  be. 

Happy  shall  it  be  for  the  Church  of  God  if  the 
next  generation  does  not  feel  the  strength  of  that 
adverse  blow  which  has  been  struck  directly  upon 
the  sacred  power  of  God's  pulpit  by  the  frequent 
and  violent  Anti-Slavery  and  political  discussions 
which  our  Reform  enterprise  has  introduced  into 
the  American  pulpit  in  our  day.  Nor  is  the 
collateral  mischief  of  this  agent  less  deplorable 
than  the  direct.  *"  If  a  minister  of  Jesus  Christ 
goes  so  far  from  straight-forward  obedience  to  God's 
command — "Preach  to  men  what  I  preach  to  you" — 
as  to  convince  his  people  that  political  Anti-Slavery- 
ism  is  a  legitimate  element  of  his  message  ofsalvation, 
he  can  not  limit  pulpit  discussion  to  this  one  point  of 
aberration.  In  all  its  nature  and  bearings  this  sub- 
ject stands  intimately,  inseparably  connected  with  a 
large  class  of  associated  iopics  not  one  whit  further 
from  the  spirit  and  terms  of  the  Gospel.  Foreign 
immigration  flooding  the  country  with  Catholics, 
legislation  the  only  bulwark  of  the  cause  of  tempe- 
rane  •,  indicate  an  endless  catalogue  of  topics  belong- 
ing to  the  same  category.  These  will  naturally, 
necessarily  be  brought  along  into  the  holy  place,  and 
incorporated  as  several  parts  of  God's  message  of 
salvation  to  the  world.  Mark  now  if  you  please.  By 
3very  successive  step  of  this  proces3,you  are  schooling 


112  MODERN  REFORM. 

men  to  "  itching  ears."  You,  the  minister,  sworn  to 
preach  the  word,  are  disciplining  your  people  to  feel 
restive  under  the  old,  stale,  condemnatory  doctrines  of 
the  pure  Gospel.  You  have  taught  them  that  they 
may  have  other  supplies  from  the  pulpit,  and  you 
will  find  them  growingly  displeased  with  all  else  save 
these  undisturbing,  refreshing  novelties.  Thus  you 
yourself  are  driving  a  wedge  which  will  and  must 
force  off  the  spirit  and  body  of  your  preaching  farmer 
and  farther  from  the  spirit  and  body  of  the  great 
central,  converting  facts  of  the  Bible  toward  the  out- 
skirts of  revelation.  And  even  this  middle-ground 
preaching  between  the  saving  doctrines  of  the  cross 
and  the  destructive  morality  of  the  world,  you  com- 
pel yourself  to  adulterate  with  a  nameless  host  of 
secularities  and  abstractions.  Are  we  not  approach- 
ing some  such  state  of  things  at  this  time,  especially 
in  those  sections  of  the  country  where  Anti-Slavery 
excitement  and  political  preaching  have  been  most 
abundant  ?  Permit  a  bold  imagining.  God  creates 
an  angel,  places  the  Bible  in  his  hand,  and  directs 
him  to  the  page  which  records  the' commission  of  his 
embassador.  Were  that  spirit  now  to  hear  a  sermon 
from  ev«ry  pulpit  in  the  country,  I  fear  he  would  fre- 
quently take  up  some  such  impression  as  this :  "  These 
officers  suppose  that  the  perpetual  reiteration  of  the 
awful  message  of  heaven  has  become  irksome  to  men ; 
that  to  sustain  the  interest  of  the  hearer,  they  must 
go  off  to  the  outskirts  of  revelation  and  keep  there ; 
must  address  mankind  through  some  kind  of  indirect 


DESTRUCTIVE.  118 

and  abstract  discourse ;  must  interlard  their  official 
communication  with  all  -such  admissible  varieties  a? 
promise  relief  to  the  tedium  of  perpetual  repetition ; 
must  labor  to  charm  men  by  the  accuracies  and 
beauties  of  style  and  taste ;  in  a  word,  they  must  toil 
to  preach  the  Gospel  so  as  to  avoid  the  too  plain  and 
pungent  out-speaking  of  its  commanding  topics." 
God  grant  I  may  be  mistaken ;  but  I  have  conjec- 
tured that  fallen  nature's  unwillingness  to  place  and 
keep  itself  under  the  full  power  of  God's  holy  word, 
powerfully  abetted  by  the  authorized  introduction 
into  the  sermon  of  the  most  absorbing  and  controlling 
of  all  secular  subjects,  is  insensibly  working  to  im- 
pair the  fidelity  of  the  pulpit.  It  must  allow,  nay, 
compel  it  to  employ  its  high  cultivation  in  such  dilu- 
tions and  digressions  as  escape  the  searching,  scorch- 
ing, saving  force  of  Heaven's  high  message  to  man, 
and  open  the  way  for  the  inlet  of  all  manner  of  or- 
ganized heresies.  May  we  of  the  ministry  remember 
that  we  are  embassadors,  charged  with  the  delivery 
of  a  written  message;  that  the  law  of  the  pulpit  re- 
quires us  preeminently  to  press  out  upon  men  the 
great  doctrines  of  the  Gospel ;  that  we  may  never 
leave  them  except  when  a  heart-burning  to  save  souls 
forces  us  to  some  subordinate  or  collateral  matter 
necessary  to  the  more  perfect  or  pungent  expression 
of  its  capital  points.  I  know  that  a  wise  discretion 
must  govern  us  in  the  practical  application  of  this 
statement.  But  I  will  say,  that  a  preaching  of  the 
Gospel,  which  in  a  far  greater  degree  shall  avoid 


114  MODERN  REFORM. 

secularities  and  abstractions,  and  employ  those  mighty 
central  truths  which  better  express  the  great  spirit  of 
the  Gospel,  and  gratify  the  heart  that  heaves  to 
sanctify  the  Church  and  save  the  perishing,  will  not 
only  do  more  to  glorify  God  and  save  men,  but  far 
more  to  hold  the  conscience  of  the  community  to  the 
supreme  authority  of  the  word  of  God,  and  leave 
secularism,  new  lights,  and  heresies  no  footing  in  the 
Christian  Church.  It  is  a  shallow  objection  that  the 
views  expressed  imply  such  a  limitation  of  the  pulpit 
to  the  two  topics  of  faith  and  repentance  as  must  dis- 
gust the  inquiring  mind  of  the  congregation  by  the 
sameness  of  the  preaching.  The  Met  is,  there  is  no 
limit  to  the  multitude  or  diversity  of  strictly  Gospel 
topics.  That  man  lives  who  has  preached  for  the 
half  of  a  century,  who  never  preached  aught  but  the 
Gospel  of  Jesus  Christ,  and  who  will  tell  you  that  it 
is  no  uncommon  thing  in  his  experience  at  this  day 
to  bring  into  his  pulpit  extended  and  strictly  Gospel 
views  never  discussed  before. 

Whatever  differences  may  exist  as  to  the  exact  line  of 
true  scriptural  preaching,  or  the  exact  degree  in  which 
Anti-Slavery  discussions  have  secularized  the  desk, 
one  fact,  we  think,  can  not  be  questioned :  this  Modern 
Reform,  by  its  direct  and  consequential  bearing,  has 
greatly  degraded  the  dignity  and  damaged  the  power 
of  the  American  pulpit. 

(3.)  The  Reform  movement  tends  to  convulse  the 
Church.  If  it  is  no  friend  of  the  Bible,  and  no  friend 
of  the  pulpit,  it  can  not  fail  to  damage  the  cause  of 
Christ. 


DESTRUCTIVE.  115 

The  fact  is,  it  has  never  ceased  to  trouble  the  Church 
of  God  since  it  sprang  into  life.  How  sadly  church 
organizations  have  fared  at  its  hands.  It  has  rup- 
tured the  Presbyterian  Church,  and  the  Methodist 
Church,  and  the  Baptist  Church;  and  not  content 
with  all  this,  it  has  just  now  ruptured  the  Presbyte- 
rian Church  the  second  time.  How  sadly  our  great 
religious  Societies  have  suffered  from  its  power.  It 
organized  a  Missionary  Society  in  opposition  to  the 
American  Board  of  Commissioners  for  Foreign  Mis- 
sions. It  set  up  a  Home  Missionary  operation  anta- 
gonistic to  the  American  Home  Missionary  Society. 
Not  long  since  it  commenced  to  disturb  the  Ameri- 
can Tract  Society,  and  is  just  now  carrying  out  a 
second  convulsive  movement  in  the  American  Home 
Missionary  Society,  by  disposing  that  body  to  with- 
draw its  missionaries  from  the  Southern  States. 

This  work  of  abandoning  the  South  was  com- 
menced fifteen  years  ago,  when  extreme  Anti-Slavery 
men  confined  the  Home  Missionary  operations  of  their 
newl^organized  Society  exclusively  to  Northern 
States.  From  this  period,  the  same  Reform  leaven 
has  exhibited  itself  more  decidedly  in  the  language 
and  action  of  the  American  Home  Missionary  Socie- 
ty. About  two  years  subsequently  to  this  division, 
its  records  affirm  of  Southern  slavery,  that  it  "  en- 
thrals more  than  two  millions  and  a  half  of  souls  in 
a  bondage  worse  than  Egyptian,  that  perverts  the 
most  direct  and  effectual  efforts  for  their  salvation." 
(18th  An.  Rep.)  After  the  lapse  of  a  brief  period, 


116  MODERN   REFORM. 

the  slaveholding  States  are  given  to  understand  that 
the  missionaries  of  the  Society  were  expected  "  not 
to  close  their  mouths  on  the  subject  of  slavery  more 
than  other  sins,"  but  "  to  make  their  ministry  effect- 
ive in  enlightening  the  moral  sense  in  regard  to  this 
evil."  About  this  time  the  Society  adopted  the  rule 
which  refused  "  to  commission  slaveholders  as  minis- 
ters," and  "dropped  from  the  list  of  its  agents  any 
missionary  in  its  employ  who  voluntarily  or  in- 
voluntarily became  the  owner  of  a  slave." 

All  this  did  not  satisfy  extreme  Anti-Slavery 
men.  They  began  to  demand  stronger  measures 
against  the  institution  of  slavery.  They  charged  the 
Society  with  "  countenancing  "  this  wickedness  by  the 
manner  in  which  it  dispensed  its  missionary  patron- 
age ;  "with  giving  aid  and  comfort  to  slavery  by  sup- 
plying slaveholders  with  the  sanctions  of  the  Gospel." 
And  they  sternly  and  publicly  required  the  Society 
to  withdraw  wholly  from  the  slaveholding  States. 
In  its  27th  Keport,  (p.  12CM:,)  the  Society  publishes 
a  long  and  labored  defense. 

It  denies  the  charge  that  it  countenances  the  insti- 
tution of  slavery  in  any  form  or  shape.  On  the  con- 
trary, it  affirms  that  "  the  number  of  the  Society's 
missionaries  in  slaveholding  communities  is  com- 
paratively small ;"  that  these  missionaries  are  sta- 
tioned, for  the  most  part,  in  those  portions  of  the 
slave  States  "  where  the  system  has  the  slightest 
hold,  and  where  it  must  be  expected  soonest  to 
yield;"  that  the  Society  binds  its  missionaries  to 


DESTRUCTIVE.  117 

"make  their  ministry  tend  in  the  most  effectual 
manner  to  the  removal  of  this  great  evil ;"  that  when 
the  missionary  "  encounters  obloquy  and  opposition 
in  so  doing,  he  is  sustained  by  the  sympathies  and 
the  pecuniary  aid  of  the  Society  as  long  as  there  is 
hope  of  usefulness,"  and  when  this  fails,  "  is  assisted 
to  enter  other  fields  ;"  that  "  many  of  the  churches 
to  which  these  Southern  missionaries  preach,"  are 
"  known  to  contain  no  slaveholders ;"  "  some  were 
formed  upon  the  principle  of  admitting  no  'such 
members,"  "others  have  freed  themselves  from  this 
embarrassment,"  while  others  still  are  in  "various 
stages  of  progress  toward  a  similar  separation  from 
slavery."  "  In  the  progress  of  this  work,  the  Society 
has  sustained  some  of  its  missionaries  in  the  face  of 
strong  remonstrances  to  the  contrary."  It  is  "not 
true,"  therefore,  that  the  Society  "is  fleeing  from 
slavery ;"  nor  that  it  "  suffers  the  subject  to  sleep." 
The  fact  is,  "  no  practicable  measure  within  its  legiti- 
mate sphere  is  overlooked."  If  the  Society  "has 
not  accomplished  all,"  it  is  "  doing  much."  "  It  has 
made  progress,"  "real  and  substantial  progress,"  in 
this  cause.  "It  records  grateful  advances  by  indivi- 
duals, churches,  and  communities."  Indeed,  "it  is 
our  firm  conviction  that  no  other  equal  number  of 
minds,  in  or  out  of  the  slave  States,  exert  so  great 
an  influence  as  do  these  same  missionaries  to  bring 
the  institution  to  be  rightly  regarded  by  those  in- 
volved in  it,  and  to  induce  churches  to  free  them- 
selves from  its  taint."  We  are  purposed  too  "to 


118  MODERN   REFORM. 

pei-severe  in  thus  preaching  the  Gospel,  and  to  make 
still  more  perfect  proof  of  this  efficacy."  The  Socie- 
ty ventures  to  hope,  therefore,  that  it  may  "  count 
upon  the  confidence  and  cooperation  of  every  true 
friend  of  freedom,"  etc. 

But  no !  Nothing  in  the  way  of  self-defense  ever 
satisfies  the  extreme  Anti-Slavery  man.  You  must 
come  square  up  to  his  mark  or  take  the  blow.  The 
Society  had  ventured  on  two  points  to  stand  out 
against  the  protestants.  They  required  that  the  So- 
ciety should  "  make  the  exclusion  of  slaveholders 
from  communion  a  condition  of  missionary  aid." 
This  the  Society  declined  to  do,  on  the  ground  of  its 
"  interference  with  the  rights  of  churches  to  define 
their  own  terms  of  membership."  It  "  did  not  lie 
within  their  province."  The  second  demand  called 
upon  the  Society  to  withdraw  all  her  missionaries 
from  the  South.  To  this  also  the  Society  declined 
to  accede,  on  the  ground  that  "  it  did  not  seem  right 
and  proper." 

There  has  existed  for  years  a  sharp  controversy  on 
these  points  between  the  conservative  and  the  radical 
elements  of  the  American  Home  Missionary  Society. 
That  the  strong  Anti-Slavery  spirit  is  practically  gain- 
ing the  ascendency,  the  New  Rule  of  the  Executive 
Committee  bears  ample  testimony.  Its  language  is 
this: 

"  JResolved,  That  in  the  disbursement  of  the  funds 
committed  to  their  trust,  the  Committee  will  not 
grant  aid  to  churches  containing  slaveholding  mem- 
bers, unless  evidence  be  furnished  that  the  relation  is 


DESTRUCTIVE.  119 

such  as,  in  the  judgment  of  the  Committee,  is  justifi- 
able for  the  tune  being,  in  the  peculiar  circumstances 
in  which  it  exists." 

I  delight  to  know  that  those  Christian  men  who 
take  the  lead  in  the  arrairs  of  the  .American  Home 
Missionary  Society,  indeed  in  all  our  great  religious 
institutions,  are  men  who  always  do  what  they 
believe  to  be  right.  They  are  incapable  of  any 
thing  else.  Like  other  men,  they  sometimes  lack 
intelligence  and  firmness,  but  never  lack  integrity. 
They  may  be  unduly  influenced,  but  that  which  they 
do,  they  ultimately  deem  to  be  duty. 

All  this  I  cheerfully  accord  to  my  brethren.  They 
will  permit  me  now  to  say,  in  my  judgment,  they 
have  committed  a  great  mistake ;  a  very  natural  one, 
I  acknowledge,  but  a  Very  serious  one.  I  hold  them 
to  have  been  betrayed  into  error  by  the  spirit  of  the 
day.  Invariably  this  is  a  strong  spirit.  It  begins 
strong;  it  ever  works,  and  works  strong.  It  is 
always  a  little  fierce,  for  it  gives  no  quarter;  and 
more  than  a  little  determined,  for  while  life  lasts,  it 
never  gives  up  its  point.  It  generates  a  momentum 
in  the  masses  it  controls,  all-competent  often  to  over- 
whelm an  opponent  instantly  under  the  fierce  pressure. 
Toward  the  grand  enemy,  slavery,  its  manner  of  opera- 
tion is  perfectly  natural.  Seize  it  by  the  threat,  and 
frown  upon  it,  and  shake  it,  and  curse  it,  and  press 
it  back,  and  choke  it  with  a  tighter  and  yet  a  tighter 
grip,  until  you  throw  it  to  the  ground  and  crush  it 
to  death.  Such  is  the  energy  of  the  Ultra- Abolition 


120  MODERN  REFORM. 

spirit  of  our  day;  and  when  we  look  to  Boston, 
New- York,  and  here  and  there  all  over  the  North, 
and  see  this  fierce  movement  headed  and  urged  on 
by  men  and  women  of  captivating  talents,  high  posi- 
tion, daring  spirit,  and  triumphant  efforts ;  and  when 
we  consider  that  these  agents  do  consecrate  to  this 
cause  more  than  their  ordinary  ability,  since  they 
must  imbibe  a  formidable  inspiration  both  from  the 
genius  of  fanaticism  and  the  fire  of  this  peculiar 
theme,  it  should  not  surprise  us  that  multitudes  are 
inevitably  borne  along  by  the  mighty  torrent. 

A  spirit  so  violent  can  never  do  much  good  in  the 
kingdom  of  Christ :  when  God  arises  to  bless  this 
country,  he  will  assuredly  set  it  aside.  It  is  marked 
by  three  capital  defects.  Palpably  it  lacks  kindness. 
This  is  not  the  way  Jesus  Christ  and  his  Gospel  han- 
dle sin.  Philosophy.  You  may  crush  by  this  pro- 
cess, you  can  not  convert.  And  justice,  ^here  are 
good  men  at  the  South,  and  they  have  done  com- 
mendable things  in  behalf  of  the  slave.  But  all  that 
is  worthy  in  their  character  and  works,  the  spirit  of 
the  day  sternly  ignores. 

'The  New  Kule  of  the  Committee  is  a  legitimate  off- 
spring of  the  Abolition  spirit  of  the  day.  There  is 
no  mistaking  it.  It  does  certainly  wear  the  hard, 
condemnatory,  violent  face  of  its  parent.  The  his- 
tory of  its  production  establishes  its  descent.  The 
strongest  Anti-Slavery  spirit  of  the  country  lives  in 
the  bosom  of  the  Society,  but  never  sleeps  there.  It 
works,  and  would  cease  to  be  if  it  did  not  ever  work 


DESTRUCTIVE.  121 

upon  the  whole  body  to  bring  it  to  its  own  spirit  and 
principle.  We  have  seen  that  this  stern  and  arbi- 
trary discipline  has  pressed  the  conservative  element 
of  the  Society  sorely,  and  forced  it,  in  self-defense,  to 
apologize  to  the  dominant  spirit,  by  recounting  all  its 
past  oppositions  to  the  institution  of  slavery,  and  its 
purpose  of  future  loyalty.  That  the  unyielding  met- 
tle and  restless  vigor  of  the  master  principle  should 
ultimately  and  insensibly  overpress  good  men,  ever 
anxious  to  avoid  a  rupture,  into  sympathy  with  its 
own  views  and  ways,  is  just  as  natural  as  the  law  of 
cause  and  effect.  If  my  good  brethren  of  the  Amer- 
ican Home  Missionary  Society  seriously  question, 
whether  in  the  New  Kule  they  have  thus  been  be- 
trayed into  an  unhappy  conformity  to  the  violent 
Anti-Slavery  spirit  of  the  day,  they  may  find  some 
pertinent  suggestions  in  the  many  little  wrongs  into 
which  they  seem  to  have  been  unconsciously  driven 
on  their  way  to  their  present  position.  God  helping, 
I  will  speak  nothing  in  malice,  and  nothing  which 
our  common -cause  does  not  seem  to  demand ;  and  my 
brethren,  I  know,  will  do  me  the  justice  to  believe 
this.  If  on  an  important  point,  a  party  right  has 
gone  over  to  a  party  wrong,  we  should  expect,  in  the 
nature  of  the  case,  some  such  exhibitions  as  these — 
an  eating  of  its  own  words,  a  crossing  of  its  own 
spirit,  a  violation  of  pledges,  an  affront  of  dignities, 
a  breach  of  justice,  a  forgetfulness  of  propriety.  Such 
things  my  brethren  of  the  Committee  could  not  vol- 
untarily do.  That  they  have  been  betrayed  into 

6 


122  MODERN   REFORM. 

some  such  things  is,  I  fear,  established  by  their  own 
history  of  the  case. 

1.  In  view  of  the  Anti-Slavery  charge,  that  the 
American  Home    Missionary   Society   countenanced 
slavery — compare  the  former  position  of  the  Society 
with  the  same  position  renounced  in  the  New  Rule. 

The  charge  of  the  objector  was,  that  the  Society 
countenanced  slavery  by  its  act  of  supplying  slave- 
holders with  the  sanctions  of  the  Gospel.  This  the 
Society  stoutly  denied.  "What  says  the  New  Kule  ? 
Is  it  not  built  exactly  upon  the  principle  that  the 
Society's  former  method  of  dispensing  the  Gospel 
to  slaveholders  was — "  giving  aid  and  comfort  to 
slavery"  ?  "Why  change  the  terms  of  the  dispensa- 
tion, and  require  clearer  sympathy  with  Anti-Slavery 
views,  if  they  do  not  feel  the  force  of  the  objection? 
On  this  point,  manifestly,  the  Society  abandons  its 
defense,  and  adopts  the  principle  of  the  objector. 

2.  In  view  of  'the  Anti-Slavery  demand  that  the 
Society  withdraw  att  its  missionaries  from  the  slave 
States,  compare  the  former  position  of  the  Society 
with  the  same  position  renounced  by  the  working  of  the 
New  Rule. 

"When  this  demand  was  first  urged,  the  Society  re- 
sponded, that  such  a  withdrawment  of  the  Gospel  from 
the  South  "  does  not  seem  to  the  Society,  nor  to  the 
great  mass  of  judicious  persons,  to  be  right  and  pro- 
per." Yet  is  it  not  a  fact,  that  from  the  date  of  the 
New  Rule,  to  all  intents  and  purposes,  the  Society's 
missionaries  were  withdrawn  from  the  South?  A 


DESTRUCTIVE.  123 

few  of  them  in  peculiar  circumstances,  or  in  locations 
very  near  the  tree-line,  may  yet  preach  to  Southern 
congregations,  but  who  does  not  know  that  not  a 
solitary  slaveholdiiig  church — a  fair  representative  of 
the  great  body  of  Southern  Christians,  will  ever 
stoop  to  ask  or  accept  aid  under  a  requisition  so  hu- 
miliating and  arbitrary  to  Southern  men,  however 
conscientious  and  intrepid  may  have  been  the  intent 
of  its  authors !  Clearly  the  Society's  New  Eule,  by 
its  natural,  its  necessary  operation,  works  out  the  de- 
mand of  the  Anti- Slavery  objector  perfectly,  and 
abandons  the  defence  of  the  Society  utterly,  by 
accomplishing  precisely  that  which  the  Society  had 
said  "  did  not  seem  right  and  proper." 

3.  Compare  the  Society's  spirit  of  disclaimer,  ex- 
pressed in  its  own  language,  with  the  same  spirit 
renounced  by  its  own  act. 

In  1828,  the  Presbyterian  Church,  through  its 
leading  members,  was  understood  to  object  to  the 
proposed  union  of  its  "  Board  of  Missions "  with  the 
American  Home  Missionary  Society,  on  this  ground, 
namely,  that  the  latter  was  subject  to  no  ecclesiastical 
supervision.  Whereupon  the  friends  of  the  Ameri- 
can Home  Missionary  Society,  to  meet  this  objection, 
employed  in  response,  these  very  words :  "  The 
American  Home  Missionary  .Society  has  no  power, 
and  can  have  no  wish  to  interfere  with  the  discipline 
or  doctrine  of  the  churches  it  proposes  to  serve." 
Nay !  To  still  the  expressed  apprehension  of  the 
Presbyterian  Church,  and  persuade  that  body  to  con- 


124  MODERN  REFORM. 

fide  in  its  honest  purpose  never  to  permit  the  man- 
agement of  the  Society  to  interfere  with  the  estab- 
lished discipline  and  policy  of  the  Church,  the  Amer- 
ican Home  Missionary  proceeded  to  say:  "It  has 
therefore  cautiously  avoided  even  the  appearance  of 
power,  by  choosing  to  exist  without  a  charter  and  with- 
out permanent  funds,  and  having  no  existence  except  iii 
tJie  affections  and  confidence  of  the  Christian  public." 
(A.  H.  M.  S.,  Vol.  I,  p.  208.) 

O  my  brethren  of  the  Home  Missionary  Society  ! 
Compare  all  this  with  the  demand  of  your  New 
Eule,  and  the  spirit  of  your  published  defense. 
Does  not  the  heart  and  soul  of  the  whole  proceeding 
speak  thus :  "  This  is  an  age  of  progress  !  "We  have 
seen  new  light.  We  must  take  higher  ground.  We 
must  fall  in  with  the  advancing  age.  "We  must 
bring  you  up  to  better  principles."  "Where  is  the 
modes^  deferential  spirit  of  the  Society  now?  Its 
repeatedly  avowed  temper  of  non-interference  ?  Where 
is  that  asserted  emasculation  of  itself,  purposely  to 
put  away  even  the  semblance  of  power  to  disturb  the 
churches  it  proposed  to  serve  ?  Permit  me  to  say, 
brethren,  in  my  judgment,  the  Society's  New  Rule, 
pressing  as  it  does  upon  the  Presbyterian  Church — 
the  Society's  advanced  sentiments  upon  the  subject 
of  slavery,  is  in  spirit,  a  direct  contradiction  of  the  "  no 
wish  "  and  "  no  power"1  testimony,  whereby  it  sought 
to  persuade  the  Presbyterian  Church  to  place  itself  in 
its  hands  in  the  beginning. 

4.  Compare  the  Society's  principle  expressed  in  its 


DESTRUCTIVE.  125 

own   language,  with   the  same  principle,   renounced 
in  its  own  act. 

When  Abolitionism  began  to  press  the  Society  to 
adopt  arbitrary  measures  with  slaveholders,  and  called 
upon  it  to  give  no  patronage  to  churches  that  would 
admit  slaveholders  to  their  communion,  the  American 
Home  Missionary  Society  avowed  its  doctrine  on  this 
point  and  responded  decidedly,  It  "  did  not  lie  with- 
in its  province"  to  do  so.     It  would  infringe  a  most 
important  prerogative  of  church  discipline,  if  it  did ; 
for  "it  would  interfere  with  the  right  of  churches  to-de- 
-  fine  their  own  terms  of  membership."   Kemember  this 
explicit  acknowledgment  of  the  Society  when  first 
tempted  to  exert  this  act  of  authority,  namely,  It  is  a 
right  of  every  church  to  define  the  terms  of  its  own  member- 
ship.   Where  is  this  principle  of  the  American  Home 
Missionary  Society  now  ?  Beyond  dispute  this  doctrine 
acknowledges  in  every  Presbyterian  church  the  right  to 
determine  how  far  slaveholding  shall  affect  the  stand- 
ing of  its  church-members.    Does  the  American  Home 
Missionary  Society  practically  acknowledge  this  doc- 
trine to-day  ?    By  its  New  Rule  does  the  Society  dis- 
pense its  patronage  to  Southern  churches  according 
to  those  views  of  the  church-standing  of  its  members 
which  these  Southern  churches  entertain  ?     Does  the 
Society  consider  those  slaveholding  members  in  good 
standing,  which  the  Southern  Church  adjudges  to  be 
in  good  standing  ?     On  the  contrary,  does  not  the 
New  Rule  most  perspicuously  announce  to  the  South- 
ern applicant  this  fact:    "What  the  Presbyterian 


126  MODERN  REFORM. 

Church  is  willing  to  consider  Christian  morality  on 
the  subject  of  slaveholding,  we  are  not  willing  to  con- 
sider Christian  morality  on  this  subject.  We  demand 
something  more.  "We  require  you  to  leave  at  home 
all  ecclesiastical  indorsement  of  your  good  standing, 
and  appear  before  us,  that  we  may  catechise  you  and 
see  whether  you  come  up  to  our  own  scruples  as  to 
sound  Christianity." 

Permit  me  to  say,  brethren,  in  my  judgment,  this  is  a 
direct  interference  with  the  acknowledged  inherent  pre- 
rogative of  every  church  to  define  the  terms  of  its  own 
membership.  Let  me  explain.  Clearly,  a  general  dis- 
cretionary power  rests  in  the  Society  to  determine 
the  disposition  which  shall  be  made  of  the  funds  in- 
trusted to  their  hands.  Clearly,  too,  the  personal 
merit  or  demerit  of  every  applicant  is  not  to  be 
considered  as  finally  decided  by  his  ecclesiastical  stand- 
ing. Should  an  application  be  made  for  missionary 
aid  by  a  minister  or  a  church  known  by  the  Society 
to  be  destitute  of  that  orthodox  and  upright  cha- 
racter possessed  by  associated  ministers  and  churches, 
and  required  of  all,  it  would  be  the  duty  of  the  So- 
ciety to  decline  assistance.  In  every  such  case  in 
Christian  charity  the  Society  should  presume  that  the 
controlling  tribunal  is  ignorant  of  facts,  which  have 
providentially  come  to  their  knowledge.  This,  I  take 
it,  is  a  right  always  exercised  and  never  disputed, 
namely,  the  right  to  act  upon  the  defective  Christian 
character  of  an  applicant,  especially  when  the  Society 
has  reason  to  believe  that  the  evidence  of  this  delin- 


DESTRUCTIVE.  127 

quency  is  not  as  fully  before  the  supervisory  body,  or 
even  where  that  evidence,  for  some  special  or  some 
unaccountable  reason,  has  been  obviously  misjudged 
by  it.  But  if  I  understand  th  is  New  Rule,  it  is  an  entire 
advance  upon  the  old  regime,  and  defended  as  such. 
It  is  not  confined  to  special  cases  of  known  or  sus- 
pected delinquency.  On  the  contrary,  the  Commit- 
tee's action  presupposes,  that  the  whole  Presby- 
terian denomination  South  has  failed  to  present 
to  the  Christian  judgment  of  the  Home  Mission- 
ary Society  any  satisfactory  evidence  of  the  sound 
Christian  character  and  aim  of  any  one  of  the  slave 
holding  members  of  all  its  churches.  The  entire 
Slaveholding  Church  is  pronounced  destitute  of 
good  Christian  standing,  and  therefore  not  entitled  to 
those  missionary  privileges,  confessedly  due  to  Christ 
ians,  until  they  bring  to  the  Committee  additional 
testimony  of  their  honest  Christian  principles. 

Observe,  if  you  please,  what  a  slaughter  of  Christ- 
ian confidence  and  church-rights  this  New  Eule  exe- 
cutes. Every  Presbyterian  church  carries  in  its  bosom 
a  Church  Session — a  tribunal  constituted  expressly  to 
pass  upon  the  Christian  character  of  its  members  and 
to  pronounce  their  church-standing.  Annually  every 
Presbyterian  church  must  appear  before  its  Pres- 
bytery, and  make  such  a  report  respecting  the  ad- 
mission and  conduct  of  its  members,  and  of  its  pro- 
ceedings in  the  premises,  as  involves  a  distinct  s.ate- 
ment  of  their  good  or  bad  church-standing.  By  the 
act  of  approving  its  records,  after  due  examination, 


128  MODERN  REFORM. 

the  Presbytery  indorses  the  good  standing  of  all  the 
members  of  the  churches  under  its  care.  Annually 
every  Presbytery  reports  to  its  Synod,  and  every 
Synod  to  the  General  Assembly,  the  condition  of.it3 
churches,  and  the  general  character  and  standing  of 
its  members.  Annually,  by  the  deliberate  examina- 
tion and  approval  of  the  records  of  the  Presbyteries 
by  their  respective  Synods,  and  of  the  records  of  the 
Synods  by  the  General  Assembly,  the  sound  Christ- 
ian membership  of  every  individual  connected  with 
the  Presbyterian  Church  is  measurably  indorsed  by 
the  highest  tribunals  of  the  denomination.  When  a 
Southern  Presbyterian  church,  therefore,  makes  ap- 
plication to  the  American  Home  Missionary  Society 
for  assistance,  it  lays  before  that  body  a  four-fold 
testimony  to  the  good  standing  of  its  members.  The 
constitutionally  authorized  testimony  of  its  Church 
Session,  of  its  Presbytery,  of  its  Synod,  and  of  its 
General  Assembly.  What  then  is  the  virtual  lan- 
guage of  this  New  Kule  ?  Is  it  not  practically  this : 
The  witness  of  your  Session,  and  of  your  Presbytery, 
and  of  your  Synod,  and  of  your  General  Assembly,  is 
nothing  to  me.  I  am  not  satisfied.  I  have  no  con- 
fidence in  their  judgment.  You  hold  slaves.  You 
must  clear  yourselves  of  this  prima  facie  indication  of 
immorality.  I  must  examine  you  and  every  one  of 
you  myself,  before  I  can  reach  the  conclusion  that 
you  are  worthy  to  receive  the  Gospel  at  our  hands. 

My  dear  brethren  of  the  American  Home  Mission- 
ary Society !     To  induce  the  Presbyterian  Church  to 


DESTRUCTIVE.  129 

give  up  her  "  Missionary  Board,"  and  commit  Tier 
missionary  matters  to.  your  management,  remember 
you  avowed  that  you  had  "  no  power,"  "  no  wish," 
"no  right,"  to  interfere  with  the  prerogative  of  every 
church  to  settle  the  terms  of  its  own  membership. 
Permit  me  to  ask,  who  can  interfere  with  this 
acknowledged  right  of  every  church,  if,  by  your  New 
Rule,  you  have  not  interfered  with  this  right  of  the 
Presbyterian  Church  ?  You  expressed  the  same  prin- 
ciple with  equal  clearness,  when  you  disavowed  your 
authority  and  your  inclination  to  intermeddle  with 
"  the  discipline  or  the  doctrine  of  the  churches  "  you 
proposed  to  serve.  My  dear  brethren  I  What  is  dis- 
cipline or  doctrine  as  applied  to  the  Church  of  Christ? 
Is  not  their  end  the  promotion  of  the  Christian  cha- 
racter, conduct,  and  influence  of  the  members  of  the 
Church  ?  Are  not  their  means  those  Christian  truths 
and  laws  which  decide  church-membership  and  duty, 
and  which  govern  the  Church  by  the  due  enforce- 
ment of  the  same  ?  Why,  my  brethren  !  who  can  in- 
terfere with  the  discipline  or  the  doctrine  of  a  church, 
if  yoti  have  not  disturbed  the  discipline  and  the  doc- 
trine of  the  whole  Presbyterian  Church  ?  I  know  you 
did  not  maliciously  intend  any  such  dishonor.  But 
have  you  not  measurably  abolished  her  constitu- 
tional standard  of  church-rectitude  ?  Have  you  not 
required  that  every  church-member  holding  slaves,  in 
all  the  Synods,  Presbyteries,  and  churches  of  the 
South,  shall  dishonor  the  highest  judicatory  of  his 
own  Church,  and  come  before  you,  that  he  may  there 
C* 


130  MODERN   REFORM. 

find  the  only  tribunal  which  you  deem  competent  to 
decide  whether  he  is  worthy  to  receive  the  Gospel  at 
your  hands  ?  My  brethren !  Bear  with  me.  Does 
not  the  American  Home  Missionary  Society,  regarded 
in  the  light  of  the  principle  avowed  thirty  years  ago, 
when  conferring  with  the  Presbyterian  Church  con- 
cerning missionary  union,  face  to  the  right  about  in 
assuming  the  ground  on  which  she  stands  in  her  New 
Eule  ?  It  is  a  good  thing,  brethren,  to  be  valiant  for 
truth  and  righteousness,  but  we  must  not  permit  our 
ideas  of  intrepid  defense  of  high  principle  to  mislead 
us  into  a  forgetfulness  of  the  principles  we  ourselves 
have  avowed !  "We  must  not  allow  our  notions  of 
valiant  assault  upon  a  corrupt  institution  to  betray  us 
into  the  dishonor  of  our  own  assurances  to  Christian 
brethren,  deliberately  advanced  with  a  view  to  secure 
their  confidence. 

5.  Compare  the  contracting  mind  of  the  Society 
when  proposing  missionary  connection  with  the  Pres- 
byterian Church,  with  that  mind  renounced  in  the  New 
Eule. 

Let  it  be  premised  that  missionary  union  was  sought 
by  the  Home  Missionary  Society,  and  not  by  the 
Presbyterian  Church.  In  1828,  the  General  Assem- 
bly arranged  to  enlarge  the  operations  of  its  "  Board  of 
Missions."  The  Home  Missionary  Society  anticipat- 
ed "  interference"  and  "  embarrassment."  The  Execu- 
tive Committee  accordingly  conferred  with  several 
members  of  the  Board  of  Missions,  who  so  far  encou- 
raged the  proposed  idea  of  united  operation  that 


DESTRUCTIVE.  131 

the  Committee  first  passed  a  favorable  resolution  in 
its  own  Body,  and  then  addressed  a  circular  to  all  the 
Directors  of  the  Society,  and  obtained  the  approval 
of  the  majority.  They  thereupon  published  what  they 
termed  "a  plan  and  stipulations"  on  which  they  in- 
vited the  cooperation  of  several  Churches.  They  dis- 
cussed in  their  cotemporaneous  publications  "the  evils 
of  the  present  system  of  missionary  operation,"  "the 
advantages  of  the  proposed  union,"  and  "  the  alleged 
objections"  to  the  same.  Having  published  such  an 
alteration  of  the  Constitution  of  the  American  Home 
Missionary  Society  as  was  necessary  to  meet  the  case, 
they  proceed  to  say  that  the  Society  hereby  places 
itself  "  in  an  attitude  to  inviti  the  cooperation  of  the, 
General  Assembly  in  effecting  the  proposed  union,  and 
the  way  will  be  opened  for  that  Body  to  determine  on  tlie 
subject."  (Vol.  I.,  p.  208.) 

The  contracting  mind  of  the  Society  may  be  sim- 
plified to  two  points : 

The  American  Home  Missionary  Society  covenants 
that— 

1.  No  disturbance  shall  or  can  arise  to  the  Presbyte- 
rian Church,  because  all  authority  belongs  to  the  Church, 
and  there  exists  no  disposition  to  interfere  with  it  in  the 
Society.  In  addition  to  pertinent  passages  quoted 
above,  many  such  declarations  as  the  following  are 
found  in  the  publications  of  the  day :  "  The  plan  as- 
sumes to  the  Society  no  ecclesiastical  authority." 
(p.  208.)  "  The  plan  and  stipulations  on  which  the 
Executive  Committee  invite  the  cooperatiqn  of  aux- 


132  MODERN   REFORM. 

iliary  Societies  yield  to  such  Societies,  the  control 
within  their  bounds  even  of  the  missionary  appoint- 
ments of  the  Parent  Society."  (208.)  "  If  Presbyte- 
ries and  Synods  become  auxiliaries  to  the  National 
Society  on  this  plan,  they  have  all  the  security  for 
the  orthodoxy  and  correct  ecclesiastical  standing  of 
the  missionaries  within  vtheir  bounds  which  the  Consti- 
tution of  the  Presbyterian  Church  furnishes,  and  no 
power  of  the  Parent  Society  can  impair  that  security." 
(208.)  In  fine,  it  is  argued  that  the  Presbyterian 
Church  should  yield  to  the  plan  of  cooperation,  "  es- 
pecially" since  that  plan  "  is  rendered  so  unexcep- 
tionable and  safe  to  the  separate  interests  of  the  sev- 
eral denominations  embraced  in  it." 

2.  That  the  Home  Missionary  Society  agrees  to  as- 
sume a  relation  entirely  subservient  to  the  churches  whose 
cooperation  it  seeks. 

The*  proposal  of  the  American  Home  Missionary 
Society,  in  its  own  language  is  a  proposal  "  to  serve11 
the  churches.  It  does  not  hesitate  to  call  itself  their 
"  servant"  "  Thus  the  National  Society  becomes  the 
servant  of  each  ecclesiastical  body  which  chooses  to 
avail  itself"  of  its  services.  When  the  Presbyterian 
Church  objected  to  the  surrender  of  the  management 
of  its  own  Domestic  Missions,  the  Home  Missionary 
Society  responded  that  the  objection  was  based  upon 
a  misapprehension  of  the  design  and  effect  of  the  pro- 
posed union — "  which  contemplates  not  the  relinquish- 
ment  of  Domestic  Missions  by  the  General  Assembly, 
but  simply  the  change  of  its  organ"  "  If  it  makes  the 


DESTRUCTIVE.  133 

change,'' it  "  assumes,  as  its  organ,  the  Home  Mission- 
ary Society."  The  agents  of  the  Society  will  then 
be  cordially  admitted  to  all  the  congregations  of  aux- 
iliary bodies,  "  because  they  will  be  in  fact,^e  agents 
of  tiie  ecclesiastical  bodies  within  whose  bounds,  with 
whose  approbation,  and  for  whose  benefit  they  will  be 
appointed  to  act"  Thus,  by  its  own  explicit  statements, 
the  American  Home  Missionary  Society,  by  this  con- 
tract, connects  itself  with  the  Presbyterian  Church  in 
the  relation  of  an  assumed  organ,  an.  appointed  agent,  an 
employed  servant  It  is  true  tha.t  the  General  Assem- 
bly declined  to  give  up  its  "  Board  of  Missions ;"  but 
the  Presbyterian  Church  extensively  accepted  the  over- 
tures of  the  Home  Missionary  Society,  and  became 
auxiliary  to  that  body,  in  view  of  the  published  plan 
and  stipulations,  through  her  Synods,  Presbyteries, 
and  missionary  organizations.  This,  the  publications 
of  the  Home  Missionary  Society  abundantly  establish. 
They  say :  "  Large  sections  of  the  Presbyterian  Church . 
have  already  become  auxiliary  to  the  Society."  "A 
majority  of  the  Presbyterian  Church,  a  considerable  por- 
tion of  the  Keformed  Dutch,  and  the  Congregational 
churches  generally,  have  declared  in  favor  of  a  union 
and  concentration  of  efforts."  (P.  210.)  Indeed,  the 
refusal  to  abandon  its  Board  of  Missions  is  represent- 
ed somewhat  in  the  aspect  of  encouraging  schism, 
since  so  large  a  portion  of  the  Presbyterian  Church 
had  already  given  its  adherence  to  the  plan  of  union. 
The  American  Home  Missionary  Society  therefore 
bound  itself  to  carry  out  this  contract  faithfully  with 


134  MODERN  REFORM. 

that  great  mass  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  which 
accepted  its  overtures. 

Now,  my  brethren,  fix  your  eyes,  I  entreat  you, 
upon  two  points  in  this  history.  First.  When 
the  American  Home  Missionary  Society  approach- 
ed the  Presbyterian  Church  and  proposed  union, 
remember,  in  all  the  churches  of  the  South, 
Presbyterian  church  -  members  held  slaves  just  as 
they  do  now.  Remember,  by  the  discipline  of 
the  Presbyterian  Church,  all  these  slaveholding 
church-members  were  deemed  to  possess  a  perfectly 
unexceptionable  Christian  standing.  And  remember, 
all  this  the  American  Home  Missionary  Society  knew 
perfectly  well  at  the  time  she  proposed  the  connection. 
Again,  bear  in  mind  that  the  Presbyterian  Church 
met  your  proposal  with  an  honest  disclosure  of 
her  apprehension  of  you. — There  is  no  bit  in  your 
mouth ;  we  have  no  rein  to  hold  you  in ;  we  fear  you 
will  disturb  the  discipline  of  our  churches. — Call  to 
mind,  now,  your  response  to  the  Presbyterian  Church : 
"  Brethren !  you  should  indulge  no  fear  of  us.  We 
assure  you  we  have  '  no  wish,'  '  no  power,'  to  inter- 
fere with  the  discipline  of  your  Church.  It  is  not  our 
'  province  ;'  we  have  '  no  right'  to  decide  the  church 
standing  of  your  members.  To  assure  you,  and  all 
men,  of  our  unobtrusive  temper,  we  have  actually  re- 
nounced the  shadow  of  all  power,  '  by  choosing  to  ex- 
ist without  a  charter,  and  without  permanent  funds.' 
Indeed  you  should  not  entertain  the  very  slightest  ap- 
prehension of  trouble  from  us;  for '  we  have  no  exist- 


DESTRUCTIVE.  135 

ence  except  in  the  affections  and  confidence  of  the 
Christian  public.'  "Why  should  }^ou  fear  us  ?  "We 
have  no  '  authority?  We  are  simply  an  'organ' — your 
'agent' — your  '  servant.'  "  Well,  brethren  !  the  Pres- 
byterian churches  trusted  you  ;  they  committed  their 
Home  Missionary  matters  largely  into  your  hands. 
What  have  you  done,  brethren  ?  Without  one  syllable 
of  premonition,  at  a  distance  from  the  point  where  we 
should  have  expected  to  hear  from  the  Society,  there 
is  published  upon  us  a  rule  of  the  Committee, 
(however  sincere  your  purpose  to  advance  the  cause  of 
Christ,)  yet  a  rule  violently  assailing  the  discipline  of 
the  Presbyterian  Church,  throwing  the  Body  into 
great  confusion,  and  doubtless  contributing  its  part 
to  the  late  North  and  South  disruption  of  our  Deno- 
mination. Brethren,  most  clearly  the  Society  had 
left  itself  one  only  just  and  honorable  method  in  which 
she  could  have  acted  upon  her  new  scruples  on  the 
subject  of  slavery.  She  should  have  addressed  the 
cooperating  portion  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  a  se- 
cond time.  She  should  have  rehearsed  the  fact  of 
her  early  disavowal  of  any  inclination  or  authority  to 
interfere  with  the  discipline  or  the  doctrine  of  the 
Presbyterian  Church.  She  should  have  announced 
her  supposed  advance  in  Christian  knowledge  and 
conscience,  and  her  consequent  inability  to  serve  Pres- 
byterian churches  as  their  almoner  any  longer, 
since  she  would  be  compelled  to  dispense  Gospel 
supplies  to  men  professing  Christianity,  and  yet 
holding  slaves  upon  principles  which  do  not  accord 


136  MODERN  EEFORM. 

with  her  new  scruples.  Nothing  short  of  this  could 
have  reached  the  morality  of  the  case.  Nothing 
short  of  this  could  protect  the  Society  for  a  moment 
against  the  charge  of  continuing  to  receive  the  funds 
of  the  Presbyterian  Church  as  an  appointed  almoner, 
and  yet  of  assuming  such  authority  over  the  Presby- 
terian Church  in  the  disbursement  of  the-  same,  as 
amounted  to  a  renunciation  of  that  contracting  mind, 
which,  to  the  Presbyterian  Church,  was  the  condition 
precedent  to  her  employment  of  the  offered  services 
of  the  Society. 

6.  Compare  the  one  grand  object  in  the  formation 
of  the  Society,  with  the  renunciation  of  that  object  in 
the  Society's  recent  act.  The  object  of  the  Society 
was  catholic,  and  covered  the  whole  country.  The 
act  of  the  Society  is  sectional,  and  will  abandon  half 
of  the  Union. 

There  never  was  a  broader  Christian  banner  hoist- 
ed in  this  land  than  was  that  of  the  American  Homo 
Missionary  Society.  If  I  mistake  not,  the  very  first 
sentence  published  under  countenance  of  the  Society, 
(certainly  in  the  Society's  organ,)  is  expressed  in  these 
words :  "  The  design  of  the  American  Home  Mis- 
sionary Society  is  to  promote  not  the  interests  of  any 
one  section  or  denomination  of  the  Church,  but  the 
religious  benefit  of  a  great  and  growing  nation." 
How  much  of  this  wide  range  will  the  Society  cover 
now  ?  The  very  first  sentence  published  concerning 
the  organ  of  the  Society  tells  us :  "It  will  have 
none  of  the  local  characteristics  of  many  journals ; 


DESTRUCTIVE.  137 

but  like  the  Society  in  whose  name  it  is  issued,  is  in- 
tended to  be  truly  national."  What  one  mark  is  left 
that  will  save  the  publication  from  the  characteristics 
of  a  local  journal  now  ?  The  very  first  sentence  of 
its  Constitution  speaks  thus :  "  This  Society  shall  be 
called  '  The  American  Home  Missionary  Society.' " 
Where  is  its  nationality  now  ?  The  very  first  con- 
stitutional sentence  concerning  the  end  of  the  Insti- 
tution informs  us  that :  "  The  object  of  the  Society 
shall  be  to  assist  congregations  that  are  unable  to  sup- 
port the  Gospel  ministry,  and  send  the  Gospel  to  the 
destitute  within  the  United  States"  Will  the  larger 
portion  of  the  territory  of  these  United  States  receive 
its  assistance  now  ?  One  sentence  of  its  OWL  se- 
lected preacher  which  the  Society  printed  and  re- 
printed a  few  years  since,  and  commended  to  its  pa- 
trons as  a  portion  of  an  able  and  eloquent  exposition 
of  its  own  principles,  may  thus  be  read  on  the  page 
of  its  own  organ :  "  Its  missionary  is  to  be  sent  where 
slavery  is  not,  but  more  urgently  where  slavery  is" 
How  many  of  its  missionaries  from  this  day  shall  be 
sent  to  those  regions  where  the  slave  so  urgently  needs 
their  services  ?  Clearly  the  New  Rule  has  violated  a 
fundamental  aim  of  the  enterprise,  and  transformed 
a  national  into  a  sectional  Society. 

7.  Compare  public  positions  of  the  Society  assumed 
against  extreme  Anti-Slavery  views,  with  those  posi- 
tions dishonored  in  the  defense  of  the  New  Eule. 

To  establish  the  charge  that  the  Society  had  changed 
ground  in  their  New  Eule,  from  Conservatism  toward 


188  MODERN   REFORM. 

Abolitionism,  reference  was  had  to  certain  principles 
and  acts  of  the  Society,  embodied  in  an  article  ap- 
pended to  its  Twenty-Seventh  Report.  I  deeply  re- 
gret that  my  brethren  should  have  felt  it  necessary  to 
object  to  the  responsibility  of  the  Society  for  this  pub- 
lication. That  this  paper,  induced  by  the  arbitrary, 
unyielding  assaults  of  the  Abolitionists,  was  drawn 
up  by  the  accredited  organs  of  the  Society,  in  official 
vindication  of  the  Society,  and  published  by  the  offi- 
cers'of  the  Society,  with  the  Report  of  the  Society, 
is  not  denied.  That  by  common  law,  from  the  found- 
ation of  the  Society,  with  the  perfect  approval  of  the 
Society,  its  officers  have  been  accustomed  to  append 
to  their  Annual  Reports  such  brief  publications  as 
they  deemed  serviceable  to  the  interests  of  the  Society, 
will  not  be  denied.  That  all  such  statements  by  the 
Secretaries  concerning  the  regular  business  of  the  So- 
ciety, in  the  proper  publications  of  the  Society,  have 
always  been  received,  not  as  the  private  opinions  of 
an  indifferent  person,  but  as  communications  made 
by  men  commissioned  and  accredited  to  speak  and 
act  for  the  Society,  will  never  be  denied.  In  the 
publication  described,  that  every  principle  affirmed 
was  then  a  principle  of  the  Society ;  that  every  act 
stated  is  still  verified -by  the  history  of  the  Society, 
so  far  as  my  knowledge  extends,  has  never  been  dis- 
puted. Surely  it  must  tend  to  destroy  confidence  in 
Christian  men  and  all  Christian  agency,  if  the  Ame- 
rican Home  Missionary  Society  does  not  promptly 
assume  all  the  responsibilities  of  that  publication. 


DESTRUCTIVE.  139 

When  our  brethren,  the  Secretaries,  and  the  Commit- 
tee, put  forth  that  paper,  they  felt  for  the  Society, 
they  stood  for  the  Society,  they  spoke  for  the  Society  ; 
they  meant  in  their  souls  that  those  whom  they  ad- 
dressed should  give  to  the  Society  the  full  credit  of  all 
the  principles  and  facts  they  therein  advanced  in  its 
defense.  When  the  members  of  the  Society  perused 
these  avowed  doctrines  and  acts  of  the  Society,  ad- 
vanced in  its  defense  by  those  whom  they  had  ap- 
pointed to  transact  all  such  business  in  their  behalf, 
doubtless  every  one  of  them,  the  assailants  excepted, 
did  not  only  inwardly  acknowledge  and  approve 
every  asserted  principle,  agency,  and  aim  of  the  So- 
ciety, but  thanked  their  officers  for  their  firm  and 
skillful  defense  of  the  Society  against  these  violent 
opposers.  "  Qui  facit  per  alium  £icit  per  se."  Awk- 
ward indeed  must  the  position  of  the  Society  be  felt 
to  be,  if  it  is  so  important  to  absolve  her  from  all  re- 
sponsibility for  a  publication  by  her  own  officers,  in 
their  ordinary  method  of  acting  for  her,  to  which  she 
had  never  objected,  and  no  one  word  of  which  to  this 
day  is  understood  to  be  disputed.  What  speaking 
evidence  does  this  fact  furnish  that  the  Society  has 
reached  a  new  position,  not  by  the  light  of  her  own 
arguments,  but  against  that  light,  and  through  a  force 
which  has  pressed  her  on  to  the  new  ground  by  its 
own  irresistible  will. 

Finally.  Compare  the  face  of  the  New  Rule  with  the 
face  of  Southern  Christianity. 

Many  men  of  our  day,  I  am  aware,  entertain  tha 


140  MODERN   REFORM. 

deepest  conviction  that  the  holding  of  slaves  in  this 
age  of  the  world  is  an  insufferable  immorality,  and 
many  more  think  very  little  better  of  it.  They  can 
not  stretch  their  charity  so  far  as  to  believe  that  there 
does  or  can  exist  in  a  slaveholding  community  any 
considerable  degree  of  pure,  solid,  consistent  religion. 
The  black  portrait  of  Southern  slavery  which  has 
been  made  so  unceasingly  to  horrify  the  imaginations 
of  the  North  for  the  last  twenty  years,  and  the  con- 
sequent diminution  of  kindness,  and  increase  of  pre- 
judice between  the  parties,  must  account,  in  part,  for 
the  strength  of  this  sentiment.  Be  human  opinion 
what  it  may,  one  thing  is  certain :  prejudice  can  not 
expunge  history,  nor  imagination  destroy  facts.  I 
do  not  affirm  that  the  South  is  superior  to  the  North 
in  Christianity ;  but  I  do  question  any  great  supe- 
riority of  the  North  over  the  South  on  this  subject. 
Select  an  honest,  intelligent  delegation  of  Northern 
men.  Command  them  to  devote  one  year  to  a  thorough 
examination  of  Christian  society  at  the  South,  and  an 
equal  period  to  a  similar  examination  of  Christian 
character  at  the  North.  In  reaching  their  conclusion, 
I  am  a  deceived  man  if  they  do  not  pass  through 
some  such  mental  process  as  this : 

The  difference  between  the  religion  of  the  North 
and  of  the  South  is  precisely  such  as  we  should  have 
anticipated  from  the  respective  history  of  these  oppo- 
site sections.  The  population  of  the  North  brought 
with  them  in  their  emigration  to  this  country  more 
education  and  religion,  and  a  higher  appreciation  of 


DESTRUCTIVE.  141 

literary  and  religious  institutions.  They  occupied 
the  healthier  portion  of  the  territory,  and  pursued 
avocations  which  threw  society  together.  Conse- 
quently, two  superiorities  have  always  distinguished 
the  North.  They  far  surpass  the  South  in  educa- 
tional and  Christian  institutions,  and  exhibit  a  religion 
marked  by  an  equal  superiority  in  three  respects — 
knowledge,  organization,  and  training.  There  is, 
however,  a  defect  in  the  religion  of  the  North.  If 
Northern  mind  is  more  inquiring,  it  is  also  more  in- 
quisitive. Consequently,  you  will  find  at  the  North 
more  speculation  and  abstraction  in  the  pulpit ;  and 
more  new  lights,  heresies,  and  infidelity  among  the 
people.  Southern  population,  on  the  contrary, 
brought  less  intelligence  and  religion  with  them,  and, 
very  naturally,  an  inferior  appreciation  of  literary 
and  religious  institutions.  They  settled,  too,  in  a 
portion  of  the  country  where  neither  the  climate  nor 
the  soil  admitted  of  an  uniformly  dense  population, 
and  adopted  a  method  of  life  which  threw  society 
apart.  Consequently,  the  Southern  Church  is  de- 
cidedly inferior  to  the  Northern,  not  only  in  religious 
and  auxiliary  institutions,  but  also  in  general  Christ- 
ian knowledge  and  in  efficient  Christian  training. 
Yet  the  South  possesses  one  superiority  over  the 
North.  If  they  have  less  investigation,  they  have 
more  faith.  If  the  Southern  pulpit,  therefore,  is  in- 
ferior in  learning  and  style,  it  is  less  liable  to  digres- 
sion from  scriptural  matter  and  spirit.  And  what- 
ever may  be  said  of  the  lack  of  the  same  look 


142  MODERN  EEFORM. 

of  religion  on  the  face  of  Southern  society,  of  the 
imperfect  knowledge  of  its  professors,  and  the  great 
prevalence  of  self-deception,  thorough  ignorance  and 
enthusiasm,  there  is  yet  a  confiding  -simplicity,  an 
unreasoning  reverence  in  the  structure  and  habit  of 
Southern  mind ;  a  willingness  to  hear  any  thing  from 
God,  but  nothing  from  man,  which  will  probably  be 
found  to  embody  quite  as  much  veneration  for  the 
Scriptures,  the  ministry,  and  universal  religion,  and 
certainly  a  greater  freedom  from  vagaries,  heresies, 
and  infidelity.  "While  some  such  general  view  dis- 
tinguishes the  religion  of  the  North  from  that  of  the 
South,  the  great  Head  of  the  Church  in  late  years  has 
been  pleased  to  bestow  a  greater  degree  of  spiritual 
blessing  upon  Christian  means  at  the  South  than  at 
the  North.  In  the  following  years,  1850, 1851, 1852, 
1853,  and  1854,  the  amount  of  preaching  in  the  Epis- 
copalian, Baptist,  Old  and  New  School  Presbyterian 
churches,  has  been  computed  to  be,  at  the  North, 
33,436  years;  at  the  South,  24,918  years — about  one 
fourth  less  at  the  South  than  at  the  North.  Reported 
additions  to  the  churches  during  the  same  period  at 
the  North,  164,553  souls;  at  the  South,  214,918 
souls — or  about  one  fourth  more  at  the  South  than 
at  the  North.  During  these  five  years,  in  these  four 
denominations,  a  Christian  force  at  the  South  one 
fourth  less,  works  a  Christian  result  one  fourth 
greater.  A  reliable  report  of  the  Baptist  Church  in- 
forms us  that  three  fifths  of  its  members  are  found  at 
the  South,  and  two  fifths  at  the  North ;  that  the  net 


DESTKUCTIVE.  143 

increase  of  its  members  in  the  whole  country  during 
the  year  1855,  was  26,802.  In  the  Southern  States 
that  increase  was  22,000  ;  in  all  other  States  and  Ter- 
ritories, 4802.  On  the  last  day  of  public  prayer  for 
the  colleges  of  the  country  the  thirty-one  Northern 
institutions  represented — report  but  181  conversions, 
while  the  sixteen  colleges  heard  from  at  the  South 
— record  249. 

I  am  aware  that  depreciating  remarks  respecting 
the  statistics  of  the  Southern  Church  are  very  com- 
mon in  this  latitude.  You  frequently  hear  it  said  : 
"Half  of  these  recorded  conversions  are  spurious." 
The  initiated  "are  ignorant  persons  who  mistake 
dreams  for  experience" — "are  received  in  times  of 
excitement  without  intelligent  and  thorough  exam- 
ination," etc.  Such  observations  betray  as  great  a 
lack  of  intelligence  as  of  candor.  The  fact  that 
practical  religion  at  the  South  compares  so  well  with 
practical  religion  at  the  North,  is  a  triumphant  re- 
futation of  this  uncharitableness.  Upon  an  impartial 
survey  of  this  ground,  therefore,  we  may  very  well 
imagine  that  the  report  of  the  Committee  would  be 
something  like  this :  "In  comparing  the  religion  of 
the  North  with  the  religion  of  the  South,  whether 
we  employ  the  Saviour's  test,  'By  their  fruits  ye 
shall  know  them,'  or  whether  we  bring  the  law  of 
cause  and  effect  to  bear  upon  the  much  larger  dis- 
pensation of  sanctifying  power  in  late  years  to  the 
Southern  Church  than  to  the  Northern,  we  feel 
ourselves  compelled  to  express  this  opinion :  that 


MODERN  REFORM. 

there  does  exist  a  sincere,  a  sound  Christianity  at 
the  South,  is  indisputable.  If  in  some  respects  South- 
ern Christianity  is  not  equal  to  Northern  Christianity, 
it  is  our  confident  conviction  that  thorough  exam- 
ination will  never  pronounce  the  religion  of  "the 
North  very  far  superior  to  the  religion  of  the  South. 
Let  this,  then,  stand  for  the  true  face  of  Southern ' 
society. 

"What  now  is  the  face  of  the  Society's  New  Eule  ? 
It  inflicts  a  broad  brand  upon  the  religion  of  the 
whole  South.  It  pronounces  Southern  Christianity  so 
unsound,  so  suspicious,  that  even  in  the  matter  of 
dispensing  Gospel  supplies  among  the  churches  of 
one  of  the  denominations  whose  almoner  the  Society 
is,  the  Society  feels  that  it  can  not  admit  these  South- 
ern churches  to  the  common  level  of  the  people  of 
God.  On  the  contrary,  if  Southern  churches  seek 
missionary  aid  of  the  Society,  this  is  the  published 
decree  of  its  conscience:— Every  slaveholding  mem- 
ber of  the  applicant  Church,  must  appear  before  the 
bar  of  the  Committee  in  person,  or  by  testimony,  and 
submit  to  examination,  that  the  Committee  may  ex- 
ercise their  conscientious  judgment  whether  in  fact 
the  parties  do  sincerely  desire  the  Gospel  at  their 
hands,  or  whether  in  truth  they  do  not  apply  to  the 
Committee  for  power  to  hide  the  Gospel  from  them- 
selves, and  from  those  to  whom  they  profess  to  preach 
it.  The  Executive  Committee  of  the  American  Home 
Missionary  Society  I  Let  no  man  suppose  from  this 
expose  of  the  voice  and  bearing  of  their  unhappy 


DESTEUCTIVE.  145 

Rule  that  I  dishonor  them  as  men  and  brethren.  I 
hasten  to  say,  I  would  not  know  where  to  look  for 
excellent  meii  and  faithful  servants  of  God,  if  these 
men  were  not  enrolled  on  the  catalogue.  My  good 
brethren  will  now  permit  a  fellow-servant,  in  advo- 
cating the  £ause  of  our  common  Master,  to  speak  out 
his  sentiments  concerning  their  recent  action  in  refer- 
ence to  Southern  churches.  I  use  the  mildest  lan- 
guage when  I  say,  that  from  its  earliest  publication, 
their  New  Rule  has  never  ceased  to  appear  before  my 
mind  as  a  positive  indecency ! 

I  know  well  that  the  entire  difference  between  us 
hinges  upon  one  point.  This  is  the  very  question 
we  have  touched — the  soundness  of  the  Southern 
Church.  If  it  is,  indeed,  a  fact,  as  our  brethren 
doubtless  suppose,  that  the  Southern  Church  is  pro- 
foundly beguiled  and  polluted  by  slavery;  that 
churches  and  ministers  together,  by  this  cause,  are 
so  utterly  dishonest  or  deluded,  that  the  Gospel  of 
Jesus  Christ  is  actually  suppressed  at  the  South,  and 
can  not  be  honestly  preached  to  the  people ;  if  this 
is  so  far  true,  that  to  send  them  the  Gospel,  or,  as 
they  would  prefer  to  express  the  transaction,  to  assist 
such  ministers  to  preach  to  such  churches,  would  in- 
volve the  Committee  in  as  grand  an  abandonment  of 
principle  as  would  be  perpetrated  by  employing  the 
funds  of  Orthodox  denominations  in  sustaining  he- 
retical preachers  in  heretical  churches;  I  heartily 
accord  it  to  my  brethren,  if  such  is  the  rottenness  of 
the  Southern  Church,  then  the  Committee  have  ac- 
7 


146  MODERN  BEFOBM. 

tually  done  what  they  intended  to  do.  They  have 
done  a  deed  of  sound  Christian  wisdom,  and  of  noble 
Christian  daring,  and  no  men  on  earth  deserve  higher 
admiration.  But,  on  the  contrary,  if  the  Southern 
Church,  of  all  denominations,  is  not  so  rotten  as  all 
this ;  if  there  is  some  true  religion  at  tnl  South  as 
well  as  at  the  North ;  if  God  converts  souls  there,  as 
well  as  here ;  if  God's  spirit  makes  men  intelligent 
and  honest  there,  as  well  as  here ;  if  God  sprinkles 
the  consciences,  sanctifies  the  souls,  hears  the  prayers, 
directs  the  agency,  and  accepts  the  persons  and  labors 
of  men  there,  as  well  as  here ;  if  in  support  of  the 
integrity  of  their  effort  to  serve  God  and  save  men, 
by  what  they  deem  an  honest  proclamation  of  the 
Gospel  of  Jesus  Christ,  they  present  to  the  eye  of 
heaven  and  earth  an  every  day  religion  which  gives 
but  little  countenance  to  the  proud  phariseeism  so 
prompt  to  exclaim,  "  Stand  by !  I  am  holier  than 
thou  1 " — in  a  word,  if  there  is  reason  to  believe  that 
your  power  to  judge  right  has  been  more  damaged 
by  your  circumstances,  than  their  power  to  do  right, 
by  theirs,  what,  then,  shall  we  say  of  this  New  Ruk? 
Faithfulness  would  seem  to  demand  three  painful 
inferences : 

1.  The  Committee  and  the  Society  are,  measurably, 
a  subdued  people. 

History  confounds  the  man  who  denies  that  they 
have  been  subjected  to  the  strong  and  steady  adverse 
pressure  of  extreme  Anti-Slavery  men  for  fifteen 
years.  Candor  forsakes  the  roan  who  contends  that 


DESTRUCTIVE.  14  i 

they  have  yielded  no  ground  to  their  obstinate  oppo- 
nents. The  Society  protested  that  their  former  ordi- 
nary dispensation  of  the  Q-ospel  to  the  South  did  not 
countenance  slavery ;  but  we  have  seen,  that  the  So- 
ciety now  gives  ground  in  its  New  Rule,  and  takes 
position  very  much  with  extreme  Anti-Slavery  men. 
The  Society  protested,  that  to  withdraw  her  mission- 
aries from  the  South  woutd  "not  be  right  or  proper ;" 
but  we  have  seen,  that -by  the  necessary  working  of 
her  New  Rub,  the  Society  now  gives  ground,  and 
takes  position  very  much  with  extreme  Anti-Slavery 
men.  The  Society  distinctly  disclaimed  every  incli- 
nation, and  even  possibility,  of  interference  with  the 
discipline  or  doctrine  of  the  churches  she  proposed 
to  serve ;  but  we  have  seen  that,  under  pressure,  the 
Society  has  given  ground,  and  in  their  New  Rule  ex- 
hibits very  much  of  the  opposite  temper  of  extreme 
Anti-Slavery  men.  The  Society  avowed  its  princi- 
pie,  that  it  did  not  lie  in  its  province  to  intermeddle 
with  the  right  of  every  church  to  define  the  terms  of 
its  own  membership;  but  we  have  seen,  that  under  pres- 
sure, the  Society  has  given  ground,  and  is  now  acting 
very  much  upon  the  opposite  assumption  of  extreme 
Anti-Slavery  men.  The  Society  gave  to  the  Presby- 
terian Church  a  semi-pledge  -that  they  never  would 
exert  any  such  authority  as  would  disturb  its  peace 
and  ordir ;  but  we  have  seen  that,  under  pressure, 
the  Society  has  given  ground,  and  thrown  an  Aboli- 
tion brand  into  the  heart  of  the  Presbyterian  Church. 
The  Society  committed  itself  to  the  Church  and  to 


148  MODERN  REFORM. 

the  world,  that  it  would  preserve  inviolate  the  catho- 
lic, the  national  character  of  the  noble  American  insti- 
tution; but  we  have  seen  that  the  Society  has  given 
ground,  and  virtually  accomplished  that  limitation  of 
the  Society's  operations  to  the  North,  so  long  the 
vehement  object  of  extreme  Anti-Slavery  men.  Fi- 
nally, the  Society  is  made  to  shrink  from  the  responsi- 
bility of  a  recorded  defense  of  her  early  principl  s  against 
the  Abolitionist,  although  that  defense  was  drawn  up 
by  her  own  officers,  bound  up  with  her  own  Report, 
distributed  to  her  own  members,  in  accordance  with 
her  accustomed  method  of  communicating  with  the 
public,  and  while,  to  the  best  of  our  knowledge,  not 
one  of  the  Society's  principles  or  actions  recorded  in 
that  publication  has  been  or  can  be  denied. 

2.  The  Society  has  been  measurably  subdued  by 
the  very  power  which  she  should  have  most  steadfastly 
resisted. 

The  American  Home  Missionary  Society  stood  be- 
tween two  antagonistic  elements — the  slaveholding 
churches  of  the  South,  and  the  extreme  Abolition- 
ism of  the  North.  A  crisis  arose,  which  summoned 
the  Society  to  decide  a  point  respecting  her  duty  as 
the  appointed  almoner  of  missionary  funds  contri- 
buted by  the  Congregational  and  Presbyterian  deno- 
minations. The  precise  question  was  this — in  sym- 
pathy with  the  conservative  Christianity  of  the  coun- 
try, should  the  American  Home  Missionary  Society 
send  Gospel  supplies  to  Presbyterian  churches  at  the 
South,  in  good  standing  with  their  own  denomina- 


DESTRUCTIVE.  149 

tion  and  all  others;  or,  in  sympathy  with  the  ex- 
treme  Anti-Slavery  views  of  the  North,  was  the  So- 
ciety bound  to  consider  all  the  churches  of  the  South 
containing  slaveholding  members  as  unworthy  to  re- 
ceive the  Gospel  at  her  hands,  until  the  applicant 
church  produced  satisfactory  evidence  to  the  Com- 
mittee fehat  its  members  held  slaves  upon  principles 
which  accorded  with  her  own  scruples  of  sound 
Christianity  on  this  subject  ?  The  Saviour  pronounc- 
ed a  woe  upon  the  Scribes  and  Pharisees!  But 
without  one  whit  of  religion,  they  were  arrant  hypo- 
crites, covetous  oppressors  of  widows  and  orphans, 
profane  destroyers  of  the  Word,  Church,  and  Son  of 
God.  The  New  Eule  of  the  Society  inflicts  a  public 
stigma  upon  a  great  body  of  professors  of  religion, 
of  all  denominations;  just  as  clear  and  consistent 
Christians,  just  as  good  men  and  women,  as  are  to  be 
found  on  the  face  of  the  earth.  What  a  body  of 
sound  Northern  testimony  has  long  been  entered  up, 
in  support  of  the  truth  of  this  declaration!  But 
Northern  mind,  under  strong  Anti-Slavery  bias,  is 
exceedingly  reluctant  to  credit  the  clearest  evidence 
on  this  subject.  That  persecuted  man  of  God  in 
Boston  was  never  discredited  until  he  visited  the 
South  and  bore  testimony  to  the  pleasant  religious 
developments  he  there  saw,  both  in  the  master  and 
in  the  slave.  And  yet  there  stands  not  a  man  on 
American  soil  more  worthy  of  Christian  credence 
than  he.  Nay !  I  exult  in  the  opportunity  to  record 
this  tribute  of  fraternal  respect :  When  I  consider  his 


150  MODERN   REFORM. 

Clrristian  candor — reading  Southern  society  so  fairly, 
through  all  the  prejudices  he  carried  with  him  from 
the  North ;  his  Christian  principle — bearing  witness 
to  the  truth,  in  full  view  of  that  cross  which  must  be 
the  reward  of  such  fidelity ;  and  that  Christian  pa- 
tience— with  which  he  ever  bears  his  most  unmerciful 
martyrdom :  My  inmost  soul  exclaims :  "  The  very 
brightest  Christian  crown  man  wears  within  the  reach 
of  my  eye !  I"  The  men  who  bitterly  revile  Nehe- 
miah  Adams  1  A  mania  is  upon  them!  They 
know  not  what  they  do !  Permit  me  to  advance  and 
say  that  the  strongest  Northern  testimony  to  the  solid 
piety  of  the  South  is  often  most  unwittingly  render- 
ed. By  far  the  sternest  Abolitionist  who  lifted  up 
his  voice  in  the  General  Assembly  of  1850,  at  De- 
troit, was  earnestly  invited  by  Southern  men.  on  the 
floor  to  visit  them  at  the  South,  and  go  around  and 
survey  the  relation  of  master  and  servant  with  his 
own  eyes,  under  assurances  of  the  heartiest  welcome 
and  the  most  perfect  protection.  The  good  man, 
with  perfect  simplicity,  arose  in  his  place,  and  thus 
responded:  "No!  I  shall  never  go  to  the  South! 
I  have  known  too  many  men  who  lost  their  princi- 
ples by  going  to  the  South."  Yes,  my  brethren,  there 
are  sincere,  solid  Christian  elements  amongst  South- 
ern men  and  women,  which  have  destroyed  the 
fiercest  prejudices,  and  changed  the  most  bigoted  im- 
pressions of  multitudes  of  misled  men.  Very  pleas- 
ant and  perfectly  natural  was  the  exclamation  of  the 
delegate  to  the  last  Assembly  from  the  city  of  New- 


DESTRUCTIVE.  151 

York,  a  man  as  distinguished  for  his  extreme  hostili- 
ty to  Slavery,  as  for  his  devotion  to  the  cause  of 
Christ.  "  My  feelings  toward  my  Southern  brethren," 
said  he,  "have  undergone  an  entire  change:  their 
bearing  in  the  Assembly  has  been  such  as  to  com- 
mand my  confidence  and  respect.  If  any  one  had 
told  me  before  I  came  here,  that  I  could  have  been 
brought  into  contact  with  slaveholders,  and  those 
who  justify  slavery  as  right,  and  that  notwithstand- 
ing all,  I  could  hold  fellowship  with  them,  not  in 
form  merely,  but  sincere,  heartfelt  friendship,  I 
would  have  said,  it  could  not  be ;  but  I  am  free  to 
confess  that  such  is  the  case,  and  that  my  Southern 
brethren  take  back  with  them  not  only  my  confi- 
dence and  regard,  but  they  take  my  heart  with  them 
also.  I  feel  that  I  do  now  love  them  as  brethren." 

Such  are  the  people  marked  before  the  world  by 
the  New  Rule  as  professors  whose  Christianity  should 
be  suspected,  whose  Christian  operations  should  not 
be  countenanced,  even  by  the  missionary  supplies  of 
their  own  denomination,  without  personal  examina- 
tion. Bear  in  mind  two  things.  It  does  not  approach 
to  a  justification  of  the  act  of  the  Home  Missionary 
Society,  that  there  are  some  wrong  things  in  the 
Southern  Church.  There  are  not  a  few  wrong  things 
in  the  Northern  Church.  But  it  does  clearly  estab- 
lish the  unjustifiableness  of  their  act,  that  Southern 
Presbyterian  churches  are  composed  of  men  and 
women  of  ordinary  personal  piety,  For  surely  it  is 


152  MODERN  REFORM. 

an  outrage,  that  an  appointed  distributing  agent 
should  look  a  Christian  denomination  in  the  face, 
and  say :  "  Your  churches  are  composed  of  ordinary 
Christians,  but  they  are  not  worthy  to  receive  a  dol- 
lar of  your  missionary  funds,  and  shall  never  do  so 
through  our  hands,  until  they  come  up  to  a  stand- 
ard of  Christianity  which  we  shall  dictate."  The 
Society,  therefore,  would  seem  to  have  but  little 
ground  for  opposition  to  the  South. 

What,  now,  are  the  claims  of  this  Modern  Reform 
enterprise  upon  the  respect  and  cooperation  of  Christ- 
ian men?  Have  we  not  seen  that  its  elements  are 
largely,  phariseeism,  malevolence,  tyranny,  and  preju- 
dice? Have  we  not  seen  that  its  work  is  damage 
to  the  master  and  the  slave,  the  pulpit  and  the 
Bible,  the  country  and  the  Church — God  and  man  ? 
Yet  this  is  the  spirit,  this  the  influence  of  that  for- 
midable agent  which,  after  a  long  and  desperate 
struggle,  has  overborne  the  American  Home  Mission- 
ary Society  to  stand  by  its  side  before  the  world,  and 
defame  the  Christianity  of  their  Southern  brethren. 
When  we  reflect,  therefore,  that  it  is  the  great  mass 
of  the  best  Christianity  at  the  South  against  which 
the  New  Rule  discriminates, and  the  most  violent  Anti- 
Slavery  men  of  the  North  with  whom  the  New  Rule 
takes  sides,  we  are  compelled  to  believe  that,  in  an 
evil  hour,  the  Society  has  given  way  to  the  very 
power  which  they  should  have  breasted  with  the 
most  unyielding  firmness. 

3.  Under  pressure  has  not  the  Society  measurably 


DESTRUCTIVE.  153 

abandoned  her  old  principles,  and  yet  failed  to  reach  the 
new  ground  sJie  purports  to  occupy  ? 

The  old  principles  Of  the  Society  are  mainly  de- 
fined by  its  office  and  its  character.  In  office,  the 
American  Home  Missionary  Society,  in  its  own  lan- 
guage, is  a  "  servant,"  an  "  organ,"  an  "  agent,"  which 
early  proposed  "to  serve"  the  Presbyterian  Church. 
Direction  belongs  to  the  employer — duty  to  the  em- 
ployee. Clearly  that  agent  abandons  h>s  place  who, 
instead  of  following  long-established  directions,  as- 
sumes the  directorship  in  the  business  of  his  employer. 
In  character  the  American  Home  Missionary  Society 
is  a  Ghristiin  agent.  Clearly  that  Christian  agent 
abandon*  his  principle,  who,  instead  of  laboring  for  the 
peace  and  welfare  of  mankind,  gives  such  strong 
countenance  to  the  great  disorganizing  spirit  of  the 
day  as  must  feed  and  fire  the  most  formidable  ele- 
ment of  strife  and  mischief  in  Church  and  State. 

The  new  ground  sought  by  the  Society's  New  Rule 
is  mainly  determined  by  the  nature  and  the  manner  of 
the  movement.  In  its  nature  the  New  Rule  is  an 
attempt  at  moral  reform.  But  this  effort  is  an  utter 
failure.  In  the  absence  of  all  evidence  of  fraternal 
solicitude,  it  displays  before  the  mind  of  the  accused 
such  an  appearance  of  arrogant  phariseeism  as  must 
prompt  it  to  fling  back  all  its  reform  power  in  the  in- 
•  li - nant  reply :  "  Physician,  heal  thyself."  In  its  man- 
t'cr  the  Reform  effort  assumes  the  attitude  of,  intrepid 
heroism.  In  this  aspect,  also,  is  not  the  movement  a 
melancholy  failure ?  The  American  Home  Missionary 

•7* 


154  MODERN  REFORM. 

Society,  looking  the  whole  South  in  the  face,  and 
practically  carrying  out  a  charge  of  sin,  never  practi- 
cally attempted  before,  has  a  Very  gallant  appearance. 
But  the  claim  of  moral  heroism  so  distinctly  set  up  in 
the  spirit  and  language  of  the  deferise  of  the  Society's 
New  Eule,  is  as  indiscreet  as  it  is  indelicate.  In  con- 
sideration of  this  high  claim,  it  is  neither  unkind  nor 
unnecessary  to  remind  brethren  of  the  lights  of  history  ; 
to  call  to  mind  that  dicsipline  of  a  dominant  power 
whereby  the  Society  has  been  brought  to  this  new 
stand.  One  extravagance  breeds  another.  To  claim 
intrepid  courage  for  the  Society,  is  to  throw  into  the 
mind  of  an  objector  the  story  of  captives  disarmed 
upon  the  battle-field,  but  rearmed  by  the  captors,  and 
stationed  in  the  front  rank  and  commanded  to  fire 
into  their  own  army  or  be  shot  down  from  behind 
for  disobedience.  No  entire  conduct  of  the  men  of 
the  Home  Missionary  Society  could  be  fairly  repre- 
sented by  such  a  picture.  But  a  thought  is  often  a 
world,  such  is  the  infinite  mixture  of  its  elements. 
And  most  assuredly,  our  brethren  of  the  Society  have 
come  up  to  this  bold  stand  against  the  South  so 
slowly,  after  such  remonstrances  against  its*principle, 
under  such  applications  of  hostile  fierceness,  as  ex- 
ceedingly complicates  the  question  of  gallantry,  and 
should  have  suggested  the  idea  to  a  discreet  advocate 
that  if  he  could  save  the  Society's  independence,  he 
might  well  afford  to  withhold  its  claims  to  chivalry. 
While  it  is  impossible  to  avoid  the  feeling  of  deep 
regret  that  the  Society  should  have  given  way  under 


DESTRUCTIVE.  155 

adverse  pressure,  yet  in  its  behalf  we  should  remem- 
ber the  importunity  to  which  brethren  have  long  been 
subjected.  Nor  have  they  been  called  to  bear  up 
against  the  simple  dint  of  importunity,  but  against 
an  importunity  of  power — conscientious,  violent,  de- 
termined power.  The  principal  responsibilities  of 
the  New  Kule,  therefore,  we  heed  not  say,  belong  to 
the  Reform  spirit,  the  extreme  Anti-Slavery  temper 
of  the  day.  The  disturbing  capacities  of  this  agent 
are  exemplified  on  every  hand.  But  in  all  the  events 
which  have  transpired  in  the  history  of  the  Anti- 
Slavery  movement,  there  is  probably  no  solitary  fact 
so  well  calculated  to  startle  the  mind  in  view  of  its 
formidable  power  to  convulse  the  Church  of  God, 
as  is  this  recent  action  of  the  Home  Missionary  So- 
ciety in  respect  to  Southern  churches. 

As  for  me,  when  I  look  at  the  agents  and  the 
action,  they  seem  so  widely  sundered  I  can  scarcely 
account  for  their  connection.  One  thought,  a  very 
uncharitable  one  perad venture,  flits  across  my  mind 
at  times.  "We  are  instructed,  "By  their  fruits  ye 
shall  know  them."  O  the  fruits !  in  Church  and 
State,  the  unhallowed  fruits  of  extreme  Anti-Slavery 
principles  which  God  has  laid  before  the  eyes  of  this 
nation !  We  are  commanded :  "  Have  no  fellowship 
with  the  unfruitful  works  of  darkness,  but  rather 
reprove  them."  Now  my  thought  is  this :  God  may 
purpose  to  be  heard  and  felt  upon  this  subject.  After 
all  the  developments  he  has  caused  to  be  made  of  an 
evil  spirit;  after  all  his  injunctions  to  avoid  such 


156  MODERN   REFORM. 

agencies  in  the  earth — if  good  men  will  hold  close 
fellowship  with  this  wrong  element;  if  they  will 
bow  down  to  its  power,  and  suffer  themselves  to  be 
crowded  up  to  do  what  they  themselves  had  so  fre- 
quently declared  they  ought  not  to  do,  God  will  leave 
these  men  to  show  to  the  world  that  this  wild  power 
of  our  day  can  even  make  sensible  Christian  men 
perpetrate  a  palpably  irrational  and  unchristian  deed. 

Now  if  this  Reform  movement  strikes  such  a  blow 
upon  the  authority  of  the  Bible,  and  such  a  blow 
upon  the  sacredness  of  the  pulpit,  and  such  a  blow 
upon  the  peace  of  the  Church,  are  we  not  bound  to 
regard  it  as  deeply  hostile  to  the  best  interests  of  the 
Christian  religion  ? 

IV.  REFORMATION — you  will  remember,  is  the  end 
sought,  the  work  undertaken.  The  last  inquiry  of 
importance  respects  the  influence  of  this  effort  upon 
the  cause  of  reformation ;  in  other  words,  upon  all 
power  to  effect  desirable  improvement  in  Southern 
society. 

Reformation  is  a  delicate  and  difficult  work.  It 
presupposes  the  existence  of  a  moral  standard  and 
the  fact  of  departure  from  it,  and  consists  in  a  three- 
fold mental  process.  It  commences  by  bringing  the 
mind  acquainted  with  the  law  and  its  breach ;  is  ad- 
vanced when  conscience  is  made  to  feel  conviction  of 
sin ;  and  completed  when  the  heart  returns  to  duty. 
The  whole  process  is  unwelcome  to  the  pride  of  man's 
fallen  nature,  and  ordinarily  requires  a  variety  of 
favorable  influences  to  secure  either  its  commence- 


.      DESTRUCTIVE.  157 

% 

nient  or  its  consummation.  The  most  common  forces 
which  impel  the  mind  to  self-inspection  and  improve- 
ment, are  suasion,  conscience,  benevolence,  and  in- 
terest. The  kind  appeal  of  a  good  man  has  these 
three  advantages — it  brings  the  mind  directly  to  the 
subject,  places  convicting  truth,  before  it  more  clearly 
and  amply  than  the  unassisted  faculties  of  the  party 
would  be  apt  to  do,  and  exerts  a  gentle  and  genial 
power  to  set  truth  to  work.  It  is  perfectly  natural, 
too,  when  truth  shines  first  upon  the  standard  and 
then  upon  the  soul's  departure  from  it,  that  con- 
science should  start  the  process  of  conviction  and 
recovery.  Nor  is  it  surprising  that  the  disadvan- 
tages of  departure  from  duty,  contrasted  with  the 
blessings  of  returning  to  it,  should  sometimes,  in  like 
manner,  initiate  the  process  of  reformation.  So,  also, 
when  parties  providentially  dependent  upon  us  are 
subjected  to  privations  and  hardships  through  our 
neglect,  calm  contemplative  benevolence  will  often 
suggest  a  course  of  reflection  well  adapted  to  lead  to 
our  improved  fidelity.  Good's  truth  on  the  one  hand, 
and  the  state  of  society  on  the  other,  are  constantly 
before  the  people  of  the  South.  That  these  moral 
stimulants  should  start  many  a  thought  of  ameliora- 
tion is  perfectly  natural.  But  reformation  works  up 
the  hill — against  the  stream.  It  requires  strong  facili- 
ties, and  will  bear  but  few  obstructions.  One  thing 
is  clear,  there  must  be  quiet  without,  to  induce  the 
mind  to  enter  upon  self-inspection,  and  that  quiet 
must  be  preserved  or  the  thoughts  will  be  sure  to  be 
withdrawn. 


158  MODERN   REFORM. 

4 

As  to  amelioration  at  the  South,  our  Modern  Re- 
form produces  a  paralysis  of  all  reform  power  at 
home  and  abroad. 

1.  Glance  at  its  bearing  upon  Home  reformation. 
That  very  moment  which  records  contact  between 
the  charge  of  the  Reformer  and  the  mind  of  the  slave- 
holder, dates  the  arrest  of  the  process  of  reformation. 
The  quiet  of  the  soul  is  broken  up.  The  thoughts 
are  summoned  without,  and  the  mind  turns  instantly 
from  self-inspection  to  self-defense.  What  now  be- 
comes of  our  all-important  auxiliaries  to  reformation  ? 
Where  is  truth  ?  Cast  out  of  the  mind  at  once  with 
the  outward  direction  of  its  thoughts !  Conscience  ? 
Wounded  pride  sets  it  to  work  at  once,  not  to  con- 
vince of  sin — but  of  rectitude !  Self-interest  ?  Instead 
of  attempting  any  longer  to  effect  a  small  improve- 
ment of  his  property  and  comfort  in  his  slaves  by 
improving  their  condition,  he  is  called  at  once  to  the 
more  important  necessity  of  "defending  his  assaulted 
title  to  rill  he  owns  !  Benevolence  ?  Weaker  friend- 
ship for  his  slave  must  give  way  now  to  stronger  love 
for  himself.  Thus  all  favorable  influences  are  re- 
versed, and  the  mind  naturally  thrown  into  an  atti- 
tude diametrically  opposed  to  reformation.  Nor  does 
the  malign  influence  of  this  Reform  stop  here.  Self- 
righteousness  is  stirred  up  and  brought  on  the  field  to 
maintain  this  attitude,  for  any  attempt  at  reformation 
now  is  a  plea  of  guilty  to  the  charge  of  the  Reformer. 
Fear  of  dishon  r,  too,  issommonedto  take  ground  by 
the  side  of  self-righteousness,  and  cut  off  all  return 


DESTRUCTIVE.  159 

to  reformation ;  for  lie  who  engages  in  any  decided 
reform  upon  the  subject  of  slavery  now,  must  make 
up  his  mind  to  bear  the  charge  of  sympathy  with  the 
Abolitionist.  To  .put  an  end  to  all  hope  of  improve- 
ment, reaction  against  the  rude  interference  of  the 
North  arrays  a  new  party,  strong  because  by  pre- 
eminence the  home  party,  whose  motto  is:  "Reform- 
atioa  is  impossible,  because  all  things  are  best  as  they 
are." 

Thus  in  all  its  tendencies  our  Reform  enterprise 
exerts  a  prostrating  energy  upon  all  the  stimulants, 
facilities,  and  powers  of  Home  reformation. 

2.  Nor  does  foreign  reformation  fare  any  better  at 
his  hand.  A  stranger  to  tlj.e  body  to  be  reformed 
always  labors  under  two  great  disadvantages.  He 
lacks  knowledge.  The  eye  of  the  man  at  a  distance 
does  not  rest  upon  the  immorality  to  be  reformed ; 
upon  the  circumstances  of  the  case ;  upon  the  dis- 
couragements to  be  surmounted,  or  the  allowances  to 
be  made.  He  does  not  intimately  understand  the 
peculiarities  of  the  character  he  has  to  deal  with ; 
what  methods  of  approach  and  appeal  would  be  wise, 
and  what  indiscreet.  On  the  contrary,  he  who  is  a 
member  of  the  community,  and  has  grown  up  in 
daily  intercourse  with  the  party  to  be  reclaimed,  and 
in  vision  of  all  the  circumstances  of  the  case,  is  much 
better  prepared  to  work  to  advantage  in  such  an 
enterprise.  The  stranger  lacks  influence  also.  He 
has  no  influence  of  authority;  none  of  power;  none 
of  friendship;  none  of  confidence;  none  from  any 


160  MODERN  REFORM. 

special  claim  or  connection.  On  the  contrary,  he 
who  is  identified  with  the  party  by  every  tie  which 
binds  man  to  man,  is  much  more  likely  to  secure  his 
confidence  and  to  exert  an  influence  upon  him.  It 
is  self-evident  that  a  stranger  does  not  know  you — 
that  a  stranger  has  no  right  to  interfere  with  you. 
With  the  velocity  and  power  of  lightning  these 
thoughts  fly  into  the  mind  when  a  stranger,  in  a  bad 
spirit,  undertakes  to  set  you  right.  If  my  neighbor 
across  the  street  disapproves  of  my  method  of  gov- 
erning my  children,  and  is  daily  heard  in  a  loud, 
censorious,  and  imperious  tone  lecturing  me  upon  the 
proper  method  of  training  a  family,  nature  in  my 
heart  would  fly  up  in  an  instant  and  I  should  re- 
spond :  "  Sir,  you  are  impertinent  I  Mind  your  own 
affairs."  When  we  reflect  that  a  stranger  is  so  far 
from  the  party  to  be  reformed,  has  so  few  connections 
with  him  or  claims  upon  him,  may  so  very  readily 
offend  him,  and  can  hope  to  accomplish  nothing  if 
he  fails  to  secure  his  affectionate  confidence,  the  first 
great  rule,  the  all-necessary  prerequisite  in  every  such 
case,  is  this :  the  reformer  should  always  be  animated 
by  the  most  respectful  kindness,  and  approach  his 
work  and  prosecute  its  every  successive  step  with 
the  most  delicate  and  considerate  regard  for  the  feel- 
ings, views,  and  circumstances  of  the  party  he  would 
serve.  Indeed  it  may  be  set  down  as  an  axiom,  that 
reformation  by  a  foreign  power  can  never  hope  for 
success,  except  in  the  exercise  of  the  truest  and  the 
wisest  kindness. 


DESTRUCTIVE.  161 

"Who  needs  evidence  that  our  Reform  friends  have 
as  thoroughly  destroyed  reformation  power  at  the 
North  as  at  the  South  ?  As  to  themselves,  none  can 
question  their  unsympathizing,  unsparing,  denun- 
ciatory spirit.  They  have  thus  surrendered  all  the 
power  to  serve  their  Southern  neighbors,  which  they 
themselves  might  have  once  exerted.  By  the  same 
spirit,  they  have  destroyed  the  power  of  the  more 
calm,  conservative  person  by  their  side.  This  man 
feels  all  just  and  proper  sympathies  with  his  Southern 
brethren ;  and  this  very  kindness  assures  him  that 
since  Northern  violence  has  inflamed  Southern  mind 
against  all  Northern  interference  with  their  domestic 
concerns,  and  roused  the  profoundest  suspicion  of  all 
Northern  attempts  to  reform  Southern  society,  it  does 
not  become  him  to  make  any  advance  in  this  direction 
at  this  time.  The  fact  is,  the  South  deserve  credit 
for  the  attention  they  still  bestow  upon  their  depend- 
ent population  notwithstanding  the  discouraging, 
provoking  operation  of  our  Reform  movements.  For 
it  must  be  obvious  to  every  impartial  mind  that  all 
opportunity  and  power,  North  and  South,  to  prose- 
cute, or  even  suggest  remedial  ideas  touching  South- 
ern institutions,  have  been  wantonly  squandered  by 
this  wild,  inconsiderate  crusade  of  the  North. 

The  last  demand  you  can  make  upon  a  reformer,  is, 
that  he  should  reclaim  the  wanderer,  or  work  reason- 
ably toward  that  end. 

The  last  property  of  our  Modern  Reformer  we  are 
called  to  record,  we  repeat,  is  this :  it  is  destructive. 


162  MODERN  REFORM. 

An  ordinary  benevolent  enterprise  involves  four 
things  :  theatre,  beneficiary,  agency,  and  instrumentality. 
The  theatre  of  this  reform,  is  our  country.  The  Re- 
form has  agitated  the  country  to  its  very  foundations, 
periling  the  Union.  Its  beneficiary  is  the  slave.  The 
Reform  has  done  nothing  for  the  liberty,  nothing 
for  the  religion  of  the  slave,  but  deeply  damaged 
both.  Its  means  are  God's  truth.  The  Reform  has 
struck  a  blow  upon  the  Bible,  upon  the  pulpit, 
upon  the  Church,  and  thus  deeply  damaged  Christ- 
ianity throughout  the  land.  Finally,  its  agency  is 
reformation.  In  the  field  in  which  it  has  wrought, 
the  Reform  has  laid  waste  all  power  of  reformation, 
both  at  the  North  and  at  the  South. 


CHAPTER  VII. 

MORAL    ESTIMATE. 

IN  the  eyes  of  the  world,  the  enterprise  we  have 
discussed,  sets  out  to  accomplish  a  grand  reformation. 
In  truth  and  justice,  what  verdict  upon  its  claims 
shall  history  record?  What  are  its  properties,  its 
impressions,  its  results  ? 

Were  I  summoned  to  bear  witness  of  its  elements,  I 
should  respond:  He  who  would  reform  another 
should  possess  rectitude  to  command  his  conscience, 
and  benevolence  to  reach  his  heart ;  should  employ 
suasion  to  teach  his  mind,  and  display  candor  to  win 
his  confidence ;  that  thus  he  might  enlist  all  reclaim- 
ing power  and  avert  all  tendencies  to  mischief.  But 
we  have  seen  that  the  attributes  of  this  Eeform  are 
the  precise  antagonism  of  all  this.  It  averts,  the  con- 
science by  an  arrogance,  which  does  not  possess  the 
rectitude  it  assumes.  It  shuts  up  the  heart  by  a 
malignity,  which  proves  that  it  comes  for  no  good 
ends.  It  employs  force,  a  witness  that  it  works  to 
execute  some  will  of  its  own.  It  exhibits  an  im- 


164  MODERN   REFORM. 

practicability  which  will  hear  no  truth  from  him 
whom  it  expects  to  submit  to  all  assumption  from 
itself.  Thus,  in  view  of  its  constituent  elements, 
blessing  this  Reform  can  not  convey ;  mischief  this 
Reform  can  not  avoid. 

Were  I  summoned  to  speak  of  the  impressions 
which  this  movement  makes  upon  the  mind  of  the 
candid  spectator,  1  would  suy :  There  would  seem  to 
be  too  much  nature  about  it.  It  finds  its  principle  in 
nature,  derives  its  inspiration  from  nature,  and  sub- 
jects all  questions  to  the  umpirage  of  nature.  And 
too  little  grace.  It  does  not  go  to  the  word  of  God 
for  its  position,  nor  to  the  Spirit  of  God  for  its 
strength,  nor  to  the  throne  of  God  for  its  arbiter. 
There  would  seem  to  be  too  much  glitter  about  it.  It 
is  ever  throwing  itself  upon  you  in  heroic  attitudes, 
brilliant  declamations,  sparkling  novels,  and  blazing 
resolutions.  And  too  little  gold.  Where  are  its  holy 
promptings,  its  wise  plannings,  its  solid  fruits  ;  what 
has  it  done  for  Church  or  State,  North  or  South, 
master  or  servant?  There  would  seem  to  be  too 
much  fury  about  it.  The, master  is  a  monster ;  de- 
stroy him  it  will,  if  it  must  outrage  all  proprieties, 
perpetrate  all  profanities,  shake  its  fist  in  the  face  o\ 
all  perils,  plant  its  foot  upon  the  neck  of  all  dignities, 
and  tumble  Church  and  State,  heaven  and  earth,  into 
irrecoverable  chaos.  And  too  little  efficiency.  It  is  a 
teacher,  but  it  instructs  nobody ;  a  friend,  but  it 
blesses  nobody  ;  a  reformer,  but  it  reclaims  nobody ; 
a  restorer,  but  it  up-turns  every  thing ;  a  good-doer, 


MORAL   ESTIMATE.  165 

but  it  does  nought  but  evil,  and  cripples  all  that 
would  do  good. 

Were  I  called  upon  more  particularly  to  graduate 
the  mo  ality  or  philosophy  of  this  enterprise  of  my 
fellow-men,  I  would  say  that  it  is  marked  by  two  cap- 
ital defects.  It  lacks  the  two  vital  properties  of  virtue. 

1.  Benevolence. — One  simple  thought  ever  thrills 
the  soul  of  the  Reformer — Liberty !  liberty  !  instant 
liberty  !  This  is  the  sum  of  all  good  to  man.  Until 
man  feels  liberty,  light  itself  is  darkness  to  him.  By 
pure  mania  this  fancy  reigns  triumphant  over  head 
and  heart.  His  love,  of  course,  is  first  narrow.  All 
its  scope  and  range  is  limited  to  this  one  thought 
and  never  goes  beyond  it.  Therefore,  he  never  dis- 
cusses auch  questions  as  these :  In  view  of  that  entire 
dependence  upon  another  for  all  the  prompting, 
planning,  and  energy  of  life,  in  which  the  slave  has 
been  educated  and  ever  lived,  without  some  special 
training  for  the  great  change,  what  will  he  get  when 
he  gets  this  liberty  ?  As  he  is,  what  of  liberty  is  he 
qualified  to  enjoy  ?  In  what  way  will  he  go  about 
to  use  a  liberty  which  he  never  knew  ?  A  liberty 
which  his  powers  are  in  no  way  fitted  to  handle ! 
How  long  will  he  hold  the  shadow  of  that  liberty  if 
you  give  it  to  him  ?  Who  will  provide  for  him 
now  ?  Who  will  advise  him  ?  Who  will  teach  him 
now  ?  Who  will  stand  by  to  pity  and  to  help  in  the 
adversities  which  are  sure  to  overtake  and  overwhelm 
him  ?  Assailed  by  hosts  of  temptations,  no  one  of 
which  he  ever  felt  before,  bereft  of  every  safeguard 


166  MODERN  REFORM. 

ever  thrown  around  him  hitherto,  what  will  become 
of  his  morality,  his  industry,  his  religion  ?  And  his 
posterity,  what  must  be  their  fate,  when  the  parents 
feel  their  utter  incapacity  either  of  self-support  or 
self-direction?  These  are  questions,  you  perceive, 
our  Reformer  can  not  ask.  They  are  all  answered  in 
his  all-embracing  motto :  "  Instant  liberty  is  all 
good."  By  the  necessity  of  his  philosophy,  therefore, 
the  benevolence  of  our  friend  must  be  wretchedly 
narrow.  It  has  no  call,  no  basis,  for  the  studiousness 
of  love,  nor  for  the  comprehensiveness  of  love,  nor 
for  the  services,  the  beneficence  of  love.  The  same 
philosophy,  you  perceive,  must  make  this  man's  love 
as  nervous  as  it  is  narrow.  With  a  glance  it  covers 
all  its  ground.  It  has  nothing  to  examine,  nothing 
to  weigh,  nothing  to  do  ;  no  food  to  take  in,  no  two 
points  to  look  at.  What  can  it  do  but  yearn,  and 
swell,  and  fret  itself?  Pressed  by  its  own  morbid 
heavings  for  relief,  what  can  it  do  but  break  out  into 
all  such  declamations,  denunciations,  and  strugglings 
as  promise  to  work  toward  its  end  ? 

2.  Intelligence. — You  perceive  from  the  views  pre- 
sented, that  our  Eeformer  does  not  take  up  the  case 
of  the  slave  and  calmly  study  it  through  and  through. 
He  does  not  consider  how  all  good  is  to  come  to  this 
uneducated,  disqualified  fellow-man  through  his  own 
idolized  liberty  :  How  all  the  bright  blessings  of  this 
liberty  will  be  made  to  reach  his  physical  necessities, 
his  social  relations,  his  moral  constitution,  his  per- 
sonal habits:  By  what  mysterious  power  of  this 


MORAL  ESTIMATE.  167 

liberty  he  is  to  avoid  all  the  perilous  conflicts  of  his 
new  position,  and  sustain  his  equal  elevation  among 
superior  men  :  Provide  a  wise  judgment  for  every 
new  juncture  and  meet  all  his  responsibilities  to  God 
and  man  :  With  such  a  work  to  do  for  himself,  and 
so  little  capacity  to  perform  it,  how  he  is  to  transmit 
all  good  to  his  posterity  through  coming  generations  ? 
Doubtless  amongst  our  Reform  friends  are  found 
men  of  as  broad  intelligence  as  |he  land  can  boast ; 
and  here  we  say,  for  its  every  exhibition  we  should 
cheerfully  accord  the  very  sincerest  admiration.  But 
whatever  be  their  intellect,  the  moment  these  men 
bring  their  intelligence  to  this  subject,  a  strange 
power  begins  to  work  upon  it.  Forthwith  it  is  placed 
between  the  jaws  of  the  popular  mania  and  screwed 
up  within  its  narrow  limits,  and,strive  as' it  may,  it  can 
not,  it  can  not  break  out  of  the  iron  bondage.  Doubtless 
there  are  amongst  our  Reformers  men  of  as  enlarged 
philanthropy  as  the  world  can  produce,  and  for  every 
exercise  of  this  benevolence  most  heartily  should  we 
love  to  honor  and  admire  these  fellow-men.  But  the 
moment  that  benevolence  is  brought  to  this  subject, 
a  malign  power  hurries  it  between  the  jaws  of  the 
vice,  and  this,  too,  to  be  screwed  up  within  the  narrow 
limits  of  the  prevalent  fanaticism,  and  for  its  life  it 
can  never  break  out.  There  is  a  disease  in  the  mind, 
and  to  expect  its  healthy  exercise  is  to  deny  the  fact. 
But  stay  !  let  me  pause  and  remember.  All  men  are 
fallible !  and  God  may  see  more  of  this  fallibility  in 
our  own  mental  action  on  this  subject  than  we  are 


168  MODERN  REFORM. 

aware  of,  and  less  in  our  neighbors  than  we  have  sup- 
posed. Giving  this  peradventure  a  considerate  and 
honest  record,  in  discharge  of  duty  I  must  now  pro- 
ceed to  say,  whenever  we  calmly  inspect  the  Re- 
former's mind  and  heart  on  this  subject,  we  do  believe 
that  the  high  intelligence  which  he  boasts — is  not 
there ;  that  the  enlarged  philanthropy  of  which  he 
seeais  so  conscious — is  not  there ;  that  the  heroic 
intrepidity  in  whiqfc.  he  so  deeply  exults— 4s  not 
there.  We  would  not  despise,  we  would  not  scorn 
our  fellow-man  for  this  palpable  deficiency ;  for  if 
there  is  delusion,  there  is  sincerity.  But  this  we  must 
say :  to  approve,  to  respect  the  actings  of  his  rational 
nature  on  this  subject,  is  precisely  to  part  with  a 
sound  mind.  There  is  nothing  in  the  view  of  his 
intellect  to  justify  the  feeling  of  his  heart.  The  plan 
of  his  mind  embraces  no  boon ;  the  exultation  of  his 
heart  interprets  it  all  blessing.  With  no  wiser,  no 
broader  view  of  the  case  than  his  fanaticism  permits, 
that  the  Reformer  should  make  his  accustomed  ado 
about  the  recreant  conduct  of  other  men,  his  own 
high-souled  sympathy,  and  the  glorious  good  he  pro- 
poses for  the  slave,  is  simply  puerile.  It  should  star- 
tle our  friend  to  know,  what  is  assuredly  the  truth, 
his  intellect,  heart,  and  hand  are  emphatically  behind 
tfie  times.  They  are  left  far,  far  in  the  distance 
by  the  delicate  and  complicated  interests  of  this  mo- 
mentous, this  peculiar  case.  His  intellect  does  not 
begin  to  do  its  work,  and  come  up  and  grapple  with 
its  great  facts  and  truths.  His  philanthropy  does 


MOEAL   ESTIMATE.  169 

not  begin  to  do  its  work,  and  come  up  and  compass 
all  its  great  and  delicate  interests  !  His  courage  has 
not  started  to  come  up,  and  dare  its  high  responsibil- 
ities. Yes  I  it  is  solid  truth  !•  The  fanaticism  of  the 
Eeformer  has  so  pent  up  the  workings  of  his  heart, 
and  crippled  the  traveling  of  his  faculties,  that  this 
grave  theme  has  entirely  outstripped  him ;  nor  do  even 
its  great  outlines  lie  to-day  within  the  reach  of  his 
severest  vision.  A  just  estimate  of  this  Reform  move- 
ment, I  apprehend,  is  expressed  in  the  following  lan- 
guage :  In  undertaking  to  rectify  Southern  society, 
a  diseased  mind,  destitute  alike  of  sound  wisdom  and 
a  healthy  philanthropy,  has  not  only  deeply  dam- 
aged both  patriotism  and  Christianity,  but  put  back 
hopelessly  for  the  present,  the  very  cause  it  essayed 
to  advance.  For  while  it  has  accomplished  nothing 
for  the  liberty,  nothing  for  the  religion  of  the  slave — 
it  has  enraged  and  prejudiced  the  master,  destroyed 
facilities  of  improvement,  and  crippled  every  agency 
which  could  possibly  be  brought  upon  the  field. 


CHAPTER   VIII. 

REMEDIAL     SUGGESTIONS. 

V 

WE  have  been  conducted  to  the  conclusion  that 
this  Reform  enterprise,  in  conception,  is  a  mistake  ; 
in  spirit,  an  immorality ;  in  operation,  a  mischief. 
But  are  we  to  stop  here  ?  Shall  we  dismiss  this  in- 
vestigation without  reaching  one  remedial  thought  ? 
Do  no  lights  spring  up  before  us  which  promise  ulti- 
mate good  to  the  country,  and  the  Church,  by  the 
inauguration  of  a  wiser  mind  on  this  agitating,  peril- 
ous question  ?  Two  practical  suggestions  would  seem 
to  promise  healing  of  the  past,  and  health  for  the 
future. 

Set  back  liberty  and  slavery  to  their  just  and  pro- 
per places  respectively ;  and  restore  North  and  South 
to  such  a  spirit  of  mutual  toleration  and  patriotic 
sympathy  as  is  imperatively  demanded  by  their  cha- 
racter, history,  political  and  geographical  relations, 
and  universal  interest  and  influence. 

I.  Let  us  seek  ajuster  estimate  of  the  true  nature  and 
value  of  social  liberty. 


REMEDIAL  SUGGESTIONS.  171 

For  a  course  of  years,  by  the  organized  passion. 
and  vigor  of  the  most  vehement  and  powerful  men 
in  her  bosom,  the  North  has  been  compelled  to  study 
slavery  through  its  excesses  and  exaggerations  ;  and, 
therefore,  to  defin»4iberty — the  right  of  deliverance 
from  infernal  oppression.  Nay  !  under  sickly  excite- 
ment, having  stretche^  out  the  sins  and  evils  of  slave- 
ry to  an  enormous  extent  beyond  truth — out  of  these 
false  elements  they  compelled  themselves  to  build  a 
Liberty  Idol — an  idol  as  hollow  as  fancy,  but  as  exact- 
ling  as  Moloch— Jwhose  grand  doctrine  is  this :  "  Slave- 
ry is  the  concentrated  essence  of  personal  cruelty, 
national  dishonor,  and  human  mischief ;  and  wher- 
ever found,  must  be  instantly  destroyed  at  all  ha- 
zards." By  this  process,  unconsciously  to  both,  the 
active  few  have  been  cultivating  a  diseased  mind,  while 
the  addressed  multitude  have  been  losing  a  just  one. 
Under  this  process,  the  troubles  of  American  society 
have  found  a  fruitful  parent  in  false  judgments  and 
feelings  concerning  sltBery  and  liberty.  *in  view  of 
this  process,  i1rt*as  unphilosophical  as  it  is  unjust,  to 
look  for  an  abatement  of  our  North  and  South  con^ 
troversy,  in  requiring  the  South  to  open  the  way  by 
desirable  improvements  at  Mbme.  Certainly,  the 
South  should  do  all  in  her  power  to  promote  the  best 
good  of  those  fellow-men  the  God  of  love  has  placed 
in  her  bosom.  But  it  is  altogether  more  natural  and 
proper  that  the  North  should  take  the  lead,  by  an  honest 
effort  to  come  back  to  just  views  on  that  general  sub- 


172  MODERN  REFORM. 

Jed,  her  departure  from  which  has  been  the  preg- 
nant cause  of  so  much  evil  to  Church  and  State. 

In  seeking  a  more  accurate  estimate  of  the  relative 
worth  of  social  liberty,  we  object  not  to  its  elevation 
above  all  secularities ;  but  we  do  object  to  such  an 
imaginary  exaltation  of  the  idea  of  liberty,  as  by 
the  very  state  of  the  mind,  works  a  necessary  inva- 
sion of  the  spiritualities  of  the  kingdom  of  Christ. 
Just  at  this  very  point  lies  the  disease.  As  a  philo- 
sophical result  of  the  process  through  which  his  mind 
has  passed,  there  is  a  halo — there  is  a  glory  ab 
the  conception  of  liberty,  in  a  Eeformer's  fancy,  which 
outshines  the  sun  ;and  he  will  not,  can  not  tolerate 
the  man  for  a  moment,  who  should  speak  out  or  act 
out  the  solid  truth  that,  important  as  it  certainly  is, 
there  are  things  far  more  valuable.  The  most  rabid 
.Reformer  in  language,  will  admit  that  spiritual 
liberty  is  incomparably  more  important ;  but  it  will 
be  in  language  only ;  for  the  moment  you  put  an  in- 
fluence upon  his  soul  to  cool  life  rapturous  admiration 
of  natural  liberty,  or  call  upon  him^-to  fire  up  in  his 
Uieart  a  higher  glow  for  something  else,  and  this  by 
abstracting  a  portion  of  his  inspiration  from  the  ob- 
ject of  his  idolatry,  tlftit  moment  you  are  insufferable 
in  his  presence.  He  abhors  you  !  He  degrades  you ! 
To  save  his  soul,  he  can  not  respect  and  love  you. 
What  an  astonishing  power  of  self-deception  dwells 
in  the  human  mind  I  Our  fellow-man  really  thinks 
that  none  but  himself  properly  appreciates  liberty. 
What  is  the  truth  ?  Exactly  this :  he  has  in  his  soul 


REMEDIAL  SUGGESTIONS.  173 

a  principle  of  liberty  depreciated  in  proportion  as  it 
differs  from  that  of  other  men.  Could  we  subject 
liberty,  as  a  Eeformer  sees  and  feels  it,  to  a  clear  ana- 
lysis, we  should  find  it  largely  an  unnatural  and  sick- 
ly element.  His  conception  is  built  up  on  an  exag- 
gerated view  of  slavery,  and  is  consequently  gradu- 
ated by  it.  His  excited  imagination,  therefore,  im- 
putes properties  which  the  object  does  not  possess. 
Nor  can  he  escape  the  necessary  result  of  a  mind  un- 
healthy in  exact  proportion  to  the  overrating  of  its 
^object.  The  principle  of  liberty  in  the  soul  of  many 
^  a  man  whom  he  is  accustomed  to  abuse,  on  emer- 
gencies which  try  men's  souls,  might  read  him  an  in- 
structive lesson.  In  this  man,  liberty  is  not  a  crea- 
ture of  the  imagination,  and  would  certainly  be  found 
more  modest,  and  very  probably  more  prompt,  vigor- 
ous, and  enduring.  I  respectfully  invite  my  Eeform 
friend  to  the  examination  of  a  few  thoughts,  with  a 
view,  if  possible,  to  bring  down  toward  the  level  of 
truth,  any  extravagant -conceptions  upon  this  subject, 
which  he  may  have  unconsciously  imbibed. 

1.  Liberty  in  its  nature,  as  a  right  and  a  blessing,  is 
not  immutable. 

On  the  catalogue  of  secularities,  there  are  no  two 
elements  farther  apart  than  liberty  and  slavery.  In 
itself,  liberty  is  a  right,  and  a  blessing  most  noble  and 
valuable.  He  who  does  not  appreciate  both  its  ele- 
vation and  its  importance,  is  less  than  a  man.  He 
whose  soul  does  not  spring  within  him  at  the  cry  of 
liberty  as  our  fathers  fought  for  it  in  the  ^Revolution, 


174  MODERN  REFORM. 

as  it  shrieked  and  died  on  the  day  that  crushed  out 
the  nationality  of  Poland,  as  it  breathed  in  the  gal- 
lant soul  of  the  Irish  patriot  when  summoned  to 
speak  out  what  he  had  to  say  why  sentence  of  death 
should  not  be  pronounced  upon  him,  or  as  it  is  often 
heard  in  our  day,  in  the  public  declamation  of  our 
violent  Reformers — he  who  does  not  feel  his  soul 
swell  within  him  under  such  appeals  as  these,  I  will 
not  ask  who  could  honor  him,  but  who  could  endure 
the  fellowship  of  such  a  man  ?  "Who  would  not  be 
afraid  to  trust  him  ?  Let  me  go  further,  and  say  that 
he  who  can  look  over  the  multitude  of  our  fellow- 
men  in  bondage  at  the  South,  and  behold  them,  by 
the  necessities  of  their  condition,  so  largely  subjected 
to  the  uncontrolled  will  of  fellow-men,  so  largely  shut 
off  from  the  fountains  of  elevating  knowledge,  from 
the  opportunities  of  high  human  development,  from 
the  sources  of  wealth,  power,  and  glory  amongst  their 
fellow-creatures — he  who  can  survey  this  scene,  and 
feel  in  his  soul  that  there  is  nothing  pleasant,  nothing 
desirable,  nothing  obligatory  in  that  process  whereby 
they  shall  all  be  kindly  and  wisely  trained  along  and 
progressively  educated  under  providence,  until  they 
or  their  posterity  shall  come  up  to  that  summit  level 
of  intelligence  and  freedom  whereon  they  may  stand 
and  share  equally  with  ourselves  all  the  good  and 
the  great  things  allotted  to  the  children  of  men  by  a 
common  Father's  hand — that  fellow-man  does  not  do 
justice  to  God's  capacious  structure  of  man,  God's  es- 
tablished fraternity  between  men,  and  God's  undis- 


REMEDIAL   SUGGESTIONS.  175 

tinguished  distribution  to  men ;  neither  does  he  do 
justice  to  that  Christianity  which  works  to  restore 
fallen  man  to  his  primeval  perfection,  and  which  sets 
every  man  to  work  in  this  enterprise,  by  the  com- 
mand, "  Thou  shalt  love  thy  neighbor  as  thyself." 

In  like  manner,  slavery  in  itself,  is  a  wrong  and 
a  curse,  most  unrighteous  and  disastrous.  He  who 
understands  these  terms,  but  does  not  admit  this 
statement,  is  an  unprincipled  man,  from  whom  no- 
thing kind,  nothing  just,  can  be  reasonably  expected. 
He  who  holds  that,  of  two  fellow-creatures  made  by 
God,  with  nothing  to  justify,  nothing  to  explain  his 
conduct,  one  may  lay  a  violent  hand  upon  the  other, 
and  destroy  his  will,  and  force  him  to  move  by  his 
own,  and  work  for  his  advantage ;  in  other  words,  he 
who  contends  that  slavery  in  the  abstract,  slavery 
independent  of  circumstances,  is  neither  a  wrong  nor 
a  mischiefj  that  man  is  a  monster,  whom  no  fellow- 
man  can  either  respect  or  trust. 

But  precious  as  is  this  liberty,  in  itself,  both  as  a 
right  and  a  blessing,  it  is  not  an  immutable  good. 
And  dark  as  is  this  slavery  in  itself,  both  as  a  sin  and 
a  curse,  it  is.  not  an  immutable  evil.  Liberty  and 
slavery  come  together  on  one  principle:  they  are 
both  modified  by  circumstances.  Mark  the  maniac, 
the  minor,  the  convict,  and  that  poor  slave  of  a  kind 
master,  at  the  South,  destitute  of  the  very  first  quali- 
fication to  take  care  of  himself;  will  any  man  say 
that  involuntary  submission  here — is  an  evil  ?  That 
arbitrary  control  here — is  a  sin  ?  The  fact  is,  both  the 


* 

176  MODERN  REFORM. 

sin  and  the  curse  are  extinguished  by  the  circum- 
stances, and  it  is  slavery  no  longer.  Has  either  of 
these  parties  a  right  to  demand  his  liberty  ?  "Would 
it  be  a  blessing  to  him  if  bestowed  ?  On  the  contra- 
ry, circumstances  have  destroyed  both  the  right  and 
the  good,  and  it  is  liberty  no  longer. 

We  hold,  therefore,  it  should  affect  every  sensible 
man's  estimate  of  liberty — that  its  very  nature,  as  a 
right  and  as  a  blessing,  is  not  invariable ;  that  on  the 
contrary,  the  conduct,  history,  capacity,  and  prospects 
of  the  party,  the  laws  of  the  land,  the  demands  of  so- 
ciety, and  various  other  considerations,  do  actually 
modify  both  the  claim  and  the  worth  of  liberty,  and 
greatly  modify  both.  For,  these  qualifying  causes,  in 
their  degrees  and  proportions,  do  work  a  steadily 
depreciating  change  in  the  nature  of  liberty  as  a 
right  and  as  a  blessing,  from  a  slight  reduction  of 
both,  through  every  successive  grade  of  depression, 
down  to  the  absolute  extinction  of  its  every  claim  and 
good. 

.  2.  Liberty  is  extinguished  by  comparison.  Give  one 
man  all  natural  Liberty  and  no  spiritual  liberty.  Give 
another  man  all  spiritual  liberty  and  no  natural  lib- 
erty. Fix  your  eye  now  upon  the  personification  of 
these  two  elements — natural  and  spiritual  liberty. 
Gabriel  was  never  gifted  with  a  genius  competent  to 
trace  the  gulfs  which  divide  them.  The  one  is  a  time 
thing,  the  other  a  thing  immortal.  The  one  has  all 
its  play  within  the  narrow  circle  of  man's  social  rela- 
tions, the  sweep  of  the  other  is  as  broad  as  God  him- 


REMEDIAL  SUGGESTIONS.  177 

self,  and  all  the  spiritualities  of  his  boundless  domin- 
ions. The  one  implies  no  action  of  benign  power 
upon  man's  fallen  nature,  no  change  of  man's  unhap- 
py relations,  no  improvement  of  man's  eternal  pros- 
pects. The  other  brings  divinity  itself  to  heave  out 
all  destroying  corruptions  from  man's  immortal  spirit 
and  implant  therein  the  purities  of  heaven,  to  set  up 
man's  soul  in  a  justified  state  before  that  throne  of 
God  it  had  outraged,  and  to  spread  out  before  man's 
hope  the  blood-purchased  heritage  of  immortality. 
The  one  finds  all  its  good  in  the  unceasing  toil  of 
fallen  faculties  to  extract  substance  from  a  world 
accursed  by  God  into  vanity  of  vanities.  The 
other,  oh  the  other  !  it  is  heaven's  created,  heaven's 
constitutional  title  to  all  the  good  of  God  and  all  he 
owns.  The  other!  Yes!  It  is  a  freedom  which 
goes  over  Creator  and  creation  with  the  visits  of  its 
intelligence,  and  while  it  cheerfully  accords  an  appro- 
priate sentiment  to  every  living  thing,  to  every  occur- 
ring event,  it  brings  back  an  instructing,  developing, 
delighting,  exalting,  and  impowering  good  from  all 
that  exists  and  all  that  transpires.  The  one  is  the 
liberty — rather  the  jail-bounds  of  a  convict  who  shall 
be  deluded  in  the  chase  of  shadowy  hopes  for  a  day, 
and  then  be  consigned  to  a  slavery  so  deep,  a  bank- 
ruptcy  so  dire,  that  the  very  bitterest  prayer  of  his 
imprisoned  spirit  shall  never  procure  one  drop  of 
water  to  cool  a  parched  tongue.  The  other,  oh  I  the 
other !  It  is  the  liberty  of  a  son  of  God,  the  liberty 
of  a  freeman  of  the  Lord !  who  shall  cheerfully  serve 
8* 


178  MODERN   REFORM. 

God  and  man  through  life,  and  then  go  to  a  heritage 
whose  grand,  comprehensive  scope  is  written  out  in 
four  short  words  :  "All  things  are  your  si" 

Come  up,  my  Reform  brother!  Come  up  and 
place  your  boasted  liberty  of  earth,  side  by  side  with 
this  God-given  liberty  of  heaven.  Compare  them 
keenly  in  nature,  relations,  possessions,  prospects  '  and 
what  an  absolute  trifle  of  trifles  is  your  idol !  Oh 
tell  me  I  Fellow-man,  I  challenge  you,  tell  me !  As 
is  the  star  lost  in  the  blaze  of  the  rising  sun,  is  not 
all  your 'earthly  liberty  utterly  extinguished  by  the 
transcendent  glory  of  the  liberty  of  the  Gospel  ? 

I  have  another  solemn  interrogatory  to  address  to 
you  just  here.  Yes  I  Hold  your  gaze  upon  your 
short-lived,  shadowy,  treacherous,  yet  captivating 
liberty  of  earth,  and  equally  upon  our  immortal,  sub- 
stantial, divine  liberty  from  heaven,  and  say :  How 
do  you  feel,  my  brother,  in  view  of  your  own  conduct 
in  times  just  gone  by  ?  Did  you  not  sully  your  sacred 
pulpit?  Under  the  unhallowed  inspiration  of  the 
day,  by  the  frequent  introduction  and  fervid  enforce- 
ment of  your  secular  liberty,  did  you  not  soil  that 
holy  of  holies  where  God  commanded  you  to  speak 
out  to  a  perishing  world  as  man's  first,  last,  and  best 
good,  His  liberty  from  heaven  ?  Did  you  not  go 
further,  and  sully  your  sacred  calling  ?  You  left  that 
sacred  pulpit,  erected  upon  the  blood  of  Jesus,  where 
God  stationed  you  as  a  Levite,  and  you  went  out  into 
town-meetings,  into  political  assemblies,  yea,  upon 
the  broadest  public  hustings  of  the  country,  and  there 


REMEDIAL   SUGGESTIONS.  179 

amid  all  the  levities,  profanities,  and  violence  of  the 
secular  tumult,  you  took  your  equal  part  wi$i  carnal 
men,  and  threw  out  your  very  loudest  tones  and 
richest  thoughts  to  extol  and  to  magnify  this  liberty 
of  earth  !  Having  gone  so  far  from  your  consecrated 
ground,  encountered  so  many  shocks  and  perils  to 
your  holy  vocation,  and  uttered  so  rapturously  the 
supreme  glory  of  this  earthly  thing,  how  is  it  possi- 
ble for  you  to  return  to  your  pulpit  and  after  all  this 
find  an  emphasis  exalted  enough  to  mark  before  your 
people  the  transcendent  superiority  of  the  glory  of 
the  liberty  of  the  Gospel  ?  Did  you  not  go  further 
still  and  wound  that  sacred  heart  which  the  Holy 
Ghost  gave  you  to  prea'ch  this  heavenly  liberty? 
Had  you  found  that  emphasis,  where  could  you  have . 
found  a  soul  to  pronounce  it?  Why,  my  brother,  had 
you  on  the  ensuing  Sabbath,  as  a  minister  of  Jesus 
Christ,  attempted  in  spirit,  sentiment,  language,  and 
manner,  to  describe  the  just  superiority  of  the  Gospel, 
one  thought  had  instantly  sprung  into  the  mind  of  half 
of  your  congregation  :  "  The  man's  a  hypocrite  or  a 
madman."  Without  argument,  instantaneously,  all 
nature  feels  these  things  are  contrary  the  one  to  the 
other.  The  human  mind  absorbed  and  carried  away 
to  the  loftiest  heights,  mind  you,  in  carnal  admiration, 
can  not  in  the  same  breath  mount  up  to  the  infinitely 
more  exalted  and  perfectly  opposite  elevation  of 
spiritual  rapture.  It  does  not  lie  in  the  nature  of 
things. 

Bear  with  me,  my  brother,  and  I  will  address  yet 


180  MODERN  REFORM. 

another  solemn  interrogatory  to  your  heart  and  con- 
science tefore  our  common  Master.  At  that  moment 
of  unholy  inspiration,  in  the  midst  of  all  the  raptu- 
rous excitements  of  public  speech  to  an  admiring 
multitude,  just  then  there  came  over  your  spirit  a 
subtle,  flattering  phariseeism  as  you  caught  a  glimpse 
of  your  own  conspicuous,  generous  daring  for  liber- 
ty, and  then  it  was,  in  that  evil  hour,  that  you  turned 
to  your  brethren  who  were  too  wise  and  faithful  to 
follow  you  in  your  more  than  doubtful  course.  And 
ah  1  with  what  a  proud  and  scornful  air  did  you  stig- 
matise  tfiem.  Yes,  stigmatise  them  before  strangers ! 
Pronounce  them  Pro-Slavery !  Dumb  Dogs  I  Eecreant 
to  every  high  and  noble  impulse  !  Traitors  to  liber- 
ty and  to  patriotism  I  Deserting  both  through  fear- 
fulness,  and  that  in  the  hour  of  the  nation's  extrem- 
ity 1  My  brother !  did  you  then  and  there  stand  to 
your  poet  as  the  sentinel  of  a  kingdom  not  of  this 
world  ?  Did  you  then  and  there  conduct  yourself  as 
one  of  a  band  of  fellow-soldiers  stationed  upon  the 
wall  to  watch  and  to  fight  for  a  liberty  not  of  the  flesh, 
but  for  that  celestial  liberty  wherewith  Jesus  Christ 
makes  free  ?  In  all  this,  did  you,  say  !  did  you  quit 
yourself  like  a  MAN  of  God  1  My  brother,  be  not 
angry,  though  I  deal  plainly  with  you.  Rest  assured 
of  this :  at  that  very  moment  when  you  were  enact- 
ing this  luckless  episode  in  your  ministry,  many  a 
faithful  man,  your  fellow-servant,  looked  upon  you 
with  profoundest  sorrow,  sometimes  swelling  into  in- 
dignation. And  he  spake  out — not  one  word  in  the 


REMEDIAL   SUGGESTIONS.  .     181 

ear  of  man — but  in  the  clearness  and  depth  of  his 
own  outraged  sense  of  all  propriety,  that  man  ex- 
claimed :  "  My  brother,  had  you  scandalized  your 
ministerial  brethren  and  done  no  more,  your  crime 
had  been  nothing.  But  ah !  you  have  wounded, 
cruelly  wounded  the  sacred  cause  of  heaven  and 
earth.  You  have  sullied,  deeply  sullied,  that  high 
commission  placed  in  your  hand  by  Jesus  Christ  to 
save  the  world.  Whether  controlled  by  the  dark 
impulse  of  a  maddened  fanaticism  or  the  shallow 
vanity  of  a  misled  boy,  nothing  short  of  an  honest 
humiliation  can  restore  you  to  the  dignity  of  a  man 
of  God  or  the  confidence  of  your  Christian  brethren." 
3.  Liberty  is  perfectly  invisible  by  that  eye  which 
takes  the  grandest  and  the  justest  view  of  the  world. 
Every  pulsation  of  fallen  nature,  from  the  first  to  the 
last,  beats  after  natural  enjoyment  in  this  life.  Na- 
ture's universal  cry  is :  "  Who  will  show  "me  any 
good  ?  Give  me  wealth  ?  Give  me  glory  ?  Give 
me  joy  ?  Give  me  liberty  ?"  Unhappy  man !  With 
what  a  sad  sound  does  this  deepest  cry  of  your  na- 
ture fall  upon  the  pitying  ear  of  'Heaven  !  What  can 
wealth  do  for  man  ?  It  has  never  bought  him  the 
very  first  right  exercise  of  the  powers  that  once  held 
the  likeness  of  God.  What  can  glory  do  for  man  ? 
It  has  never  lifted  from  his  soul  the  very  first  look  of 
his  earned  everlasting  contempt.  What  can  joy  do 
for  man  ?  It  has  never  cheered  his  spirit  with  the 
very  first  throb  of  that  peace  for  which  God  made  it. 
What  can  liberty  do  fbr  man  ?  It  lias  never  produced 


182  MODERN   REFORM. 

for  him  the  very  first  free  movement  of  a  redeemed 
nature.  And  yet  how  often  does  the  very  Church 
of  God  seem  to  forget  her  high  work  and  go  out  of 
her  place  to  speak  her  pantings  that  all  men  might 
enjoy  this  liberty  of  earth  !  And  what  a  liberty ! 
Chained  by  laws  of  nature  on  every  hand ;  fettered 
by  laws  of  providence  at  every  step ;  crippled  by 
laws  of  nations,  cities,  companies  in  every  place ;  con- 
trolled by  customs,  sentiments,  tastes,  under  all  cir- 
cumstances. It  is*  hard  indeed  for  man  to  learn  that 
earthly  good  inordinately  sought,  indicates  a  fatal 
misconception  of  the  end  of  time,  of  the  work  of 
this  life.  It  is  hard  indeed  for  man  to  practise  the 
lesson  that  no  fallen  mind  ever  sees  the  world  aright 
until  it  looks  upon  it  not  as  a  field  of  natural  enjoy- 
ment, but  as  a  theatre  of  spiritual  achievement.  This 
is  the  great  idea.  This  should  regulate  the  worth 
and  dignity  of  all  terrestrial  things.  Here  the  Son 
of  God  shed  his  blood  in  atonement  for  sin :  What 
an  achievement !  Here  the  Holy  Ghost  retraces 
God's  likeness  upon  the  apostasy ;  What  an  achieve- 
ment !  Here  the  word  of  God  is  all  abroad  to  light 
up  the  darkness  of  the  fall :  What  an  achievement ! 
Here  the  Church  of  God,  with  all  her  ordinances,  and 
every  man  of  God,  with  all  his  influence,  work  to- 
gether with  the  Trinity,  to  save  a  lost  world :  What 
an  achievement !  The  great  primary  fact  in  our  his- 
tory tells  that  the  world  has  been  up-turned,  and  we 
are  all  in  confusion  and  peril.  And  sorrows  and 
wrongs  abound  everywhere  at  the  North  and  at  the 


REMEDIAL  SUGGESTIONS.  183 

South.  But  the  great  work  in  this  life — surely  it  is 
not  to  get  back  our  little  rights!  not  to  exult  for  a 
moment  in  nature's  joys  !  No,  no  !  The  world  is  a 
spiritual  wreck.  And  spiritual  achievement !  Deliver- 
ance from  sin!!  Salvation!!  Salvation! !!  This, 
this,  is  the  great  order  of  the  day  here  !  And  all  els?, 
valuable  as  it  may  be  in  its  place,  is  a  perfect  nullity 
when  compared  with  the  overthrow  of  sin  and  the 
salvation  of  the  soul.  Now,  my  brother,  by  all  your 
thoughts,  your  feelings,  your  words,  your  tones,  your 
looks,  your  acts,  and  your  aims,  you  can  not  help  it, 
you  will  assure  all  men  of  your  conviction  that  the 
securement  of  the  liberty  of  the  bondman,  this  is 
the  great  work  of  the  world.  Or  at  least  you  do 
come  fearfully  too  near  to  this  monstrous,  monstrous 
extravagance.  Nor  is  this  all.  You  will  push  your 
measures  for  the  practical  accomplishment  of  his 
rescue,  although  you  unsettle  the  very  order  of  so- 
ciety, although  you  break  down  the  platform,  the 
necessary  platform,  on  which  holy  agency  must  stand 
and  work  to  achieve  the  redemption  of  the  world. 

My  fellow-man !  can  it  be  that  there  exist  no  rea- 
sons why  a  class  of  men  around  us  should  take  down 
their  exorbitant  views  of  the  comparative  value  of 
human  liberty  1  Why,  surely,  if  it  is  a  liberty  that  is 
extinguished  by  circumstances  !  If  it  is  a  liberty  that  is 
utterly  extinguished  by  comparison  I  If  it  is  a  liberty 
so  small  and  out  of  the  way,  that  it  can  not  be  embrac- 
ed in  a  right  look  at  the  world,  surely  rectitude,  bene- 
volence, and  wisdom,  surely  patriotism,  fellowship, 


184  MODERN  KEFORM. 

and  peace,  should  constrain  us  to  lay  this  whole 
matter  to  heart ;  and  since  God  has  promised  to  di- 
rect the  steps  of  those  who  commit  their  way  unto 
him,  should  we  not,  every  sool  of  us,  profoundly 
commend  our  personal  case  to  God,  and  try  again  to 
listen  humbly  for  that  voice  of  heavenly  guidance : 
"  This  is  the  way :  walk  ye  therein." 

II.  Let  us  seek  a  kinder  heart  toward  the  South/ 
Were  my  Maker  to  call  me  out  before  heaven  and 
earth,  and  say :  "  My  creature !  thou  shalt  not  ask  a 
blessing  which  directly  involves  heaven's  saving 
agency.  What  else  thou  wilt,  ask,  and  it  shall  be 
done."  As  at  present  advised,  I  should  not  hesitate 
to  respond :  "0  my  Maker !  for  the  temporal  and 
eternal  good  of  the  slave,  for  the  unity  and  pros- 
perity of  my  country,  for  the  best  good  of  the  whole 
world,  and  all  its  coming  generations,  and  for  thy 
glory  in  all,  in  mercy — give  to  the  North  a  kind  heart  to 
the  South." 

What  a  momentous  and  singular  fact  I  Here  we 
are,  a  nation  holding  in  our  bosom  three  millions  of 
our  fellow-men.  Not  of  our  continent ;  not  of  our 
color;  at  the  farthest  possible  remove  from  our 
grade  of  culture.  How  comes  this  ?  None  but  God 
hath  planned  this  movement.  And  for  what  end  ? 
I  believe  that  great  and  good  man,  George  Whitefield, 
responded  to  this  inquiry  as  early  and  as  clearly  as 
has  any  uninspired  man.  Slavery  was  arrested  at  the 
line  which  divided  South-Carolina  from  Georgia. 
General  Oglethorpe  was  the  stoutest  sort  of  an  Aboli- 


REMEDIAL  SUGGESTIONS.  185 

tionist.  But  cunning  and  time  were  too  much  for 
him.  The  Carolinians  hired  their  slaves  to  Georgi- 
ans, first  for  one  year,  then  for  two,  ten,  twenty,  one 
hundred.  Still  the  faithful  veteran  was  fighting  off 
the  enemy  as  best  he  could,  when  Whitefield  appeared 
before  him,  and  thus  gave  counsel:  "General,  give 
up  your  opposition  to  the  introduction  of  slavery 
into  the  colony  of  Georgia.  If  the  slave  gets  a  good 
master,  he  will  be  better  off  than  he  would  be  were 
he  in  his  own  country,  or  free  in  this.  Besides,  I 
believe  that  He  who  commanded,  '  Go  ye  into  all  the 
world,  and  preach  the  Gospel  to  every  creature,'  sees 
that  there  is  no  missionary  spirit  in  the  Church,  and 
in  compassion  to  the  heathen,  He  it  is  who  has 
brought  them  here,  that  here  they  may  be  Christian- 
ized, and  then  return  with  the  lamp  of  life,  to  light 
up  their  own  benighted  native  continent."  It  must 
be  so.  Make  the  most  natural  record  of  this  trans- 
action from  the  beginning,  and  the  simple  history  is 
neither  more  nor  less  than  a  lucid  plan,  a  statement 
of  the  successive  steps,  peradventure,  of  the  most 
philosophical  and  sublime  missionary  movement  un- 
der heaven. 

The  first  historical  fact  directs  us  to  the  people. 
Who  are  they  ?  Of  all  men  the  very  people  for  the 
enterprise.  Just  the  darkest  and  most  degraded  hea- 
then upon  the  face  of  the  earth ;  sitting  in  the  region 
and  shadow  of  death,  without  the  slightest  prospect 
of  a  visit  from  the  heralds  of  salvation.  The  second 
historical  fact  records  their  transportation  from  Africa. 


186  MODERN  REFORM. 

What  does  this  accomplish?  A  most  important  and 
primary  part  of  the  work  of  their  evangelization. 
It  rolls  an  ocean  between  them  and  every  fountain 
and  even  form  of  their  native  superstition.  Oh !  if 
our  brethren  on  heathen  shores  could  only  take  the 
heathen  from  the  heathen,  more  than  half  their  mis- 
sionary work  would  be  instantly  accomplished.  To 
cut  this  people  off  at  once  and  for  ever  from  all  sup- 
port for  their  heathenism,  to  cast  all  the  power  of  its 
resuscitation  to  the  ends  of  the  earth,  and  force  them 
to  go  elsewhere  for  thoughts  of  God,  what  a  precise 
philosophical  prescription  to  open  the  way  for  their 
salvation,  by  breaking  the  reigning  power  of  pagan- 
ism in  their  souls.  But  where  did  Providence  land 
them?  The  third  historical  fact  replies:  "Here! 
here,  where  the  light  of  Christianity  shines  in  all 
they  see,  and  the  voice  of  Christianity  sounds  in  all 
they  hear.  Where  their  heathenism  must  get  a  blow, 
and  their  dark  souls  receive  a  truth,  with  almost 
every  successive  motion  of  their  faculties  and  occur- 
rence of  providence.  What  plan  to  bring  men  to 
Christianity  from  heathenism  could  possibly  embrace 
a  more  direct  and  suitable  provision  ?  The  fourth 
historical  fact  incorporates  them  into  our  population 
in  the  relation  of  slaves  to  masters.  And  what  a 
speaking  movement  is  this?  Men  rise  up  against 
this  relation  most  violently  on  every  hand.  Against 
its  original  institution  this  violence  could  not  be  too 
decided.  In  many  of  its  present  aspects  the  hostility 
is  still  justifiable.  In  one  point  of  view  it  is  deeply 


REMEDIAL  SUGGESTIONS.  187 

censurable.  It  leaves  out  wholly  the  comforting,  the 
Christian  side  of  the  case.  Yes !  the  great  descrip- 
tive truth  in  this  whole  history  men^reatly  overlook. 
To  this  degraded,  pershing  people,  the  alternative 
was  this — Slavery,  or  no  Christianity.  Savage 
slavery  at  home,  without  the  religion  of  Jesus,  or 
American  slavery,  with  it.  This  was  the  issue 
which  wicked  men  called  upon  God  to  decide.  Who 
doubts  this  fact?  What  if  Abolition  intelligence 
had  been  called  to  the  helm  at  this  time?  Why! 
think,  my  fellow-men.  If  the  population  brought  to 
our  shores  had  been  placed  in  any  other — yes,  in  any 
other  possible  position  than  this  very  relation  of 
master  and  slave,  they  would  have  perished  from  the 
earth  in  the  first  generation,  and  the  multitudes  of 
them  who  have  gone  to  heaven  had  never  sung  its 
songs,  and  God's  great  missionary  enterprise  have 
long  since  been  recorded  a  failure.  I  boldly  affirm, 
that  in  any  other  possible  relation  than  the  relation 
of  master  and  slave,  the  imported  population  could 
no  more  have  clothed  and  fed  and  housed  and  stimu- 
lated and  restrained  and  guided  and  taught  and  im- 
proved and  preserved  and  multiplied  themselves 
from  the  date  of  their  introduction  into  the  country, 
than  they  could  have  bailed  out  the  ocean  and  gone 
back  to  Africa.  Yes !  my  friends,  this  very  relation 
of  master  and  slave  has  built  the  only  platform,  the 
only  platform,  on  which  our  imported  heathen  could 
have  been  held  up  from  generation  to  generation,  to 
be  acted  on  by  the  saving  agencies  of  the  Gospel ; 


188  MODERN  EEFORM. 

and  though  we  may  not  form  the  relation  to  found 
the  platform,  yet,  when  man  engenders  a  child  of 
the  pit,  we  should  shout  hearty  thanks  to  God,  that 
he  transforms  him  into  an  angel  of  mercy.  Nor  is 
this  all.  The  fifth  historical  fact  in  the  case  calls  to 
mind  another  most  important  end  accomplished  by 
this  very  relation.  It  secures  the  favorable  influence 
of  truth.  A  master  is  the  strongest  earthly  power 
known  to  the  slave.  Government  by  the  one  de- 
scribes the  life  of  the  other.  In  general,  a  master's 
power  aids  Christianity.  You  can  find  instances 
enough  at  the  South,  I  readily  grant,  where  injustice 
and  unkindness  on  the  part  of  the  master  obstruct 
the  influence  of  truth.  But  the  preponderance,  thank 
God !  is  vastly  in  the  scale  of  the  master's  interest 
in  his  slaves  and  kindness  to  them ;  and  when  the 
master  himself  is  not  kind,  others  are.  The  slightest 
investigation  will  assure  us  that  God  has  employed 
the  governing  relation  of  the  master  to  lend  the 
mightiest  earthly  contribution  to  that  glorious  work 
of  Christianity  most  certainly  wrought  for  the  man 
of  color  at  the  South.  The  master's  authority  will 
generally  command  the  attention  of  the  slave  to  that 
which  the  master  or  the  white  man  addresses  to  him. 
Had  all  been  free,  omniscience  alone  can  tell  what 
myriads  of  Christian  appeals,  which  arrested  the  at- 
tention and  saved  the  soul  of  the  slave,  would  never 
have  secured  the  very  first  thought  of  the  freeman. 
Apart  from  his  obedience,  the  slave  cherishes  a  feel- 
ing of  honor  for  his  master.  He  considers  him  a  su- 


EEMEDIAL  SUGGESTIONS.  189 

perior  person,  and  feels  a  deference  for  him.  This 
feeling  insures  a  respectful  attention.  What  multi- 
tudes of  imported  Africans,  free,  had  never  had  their 
hearts  thus  opened  to  receive  the  sincere  milk  of  the 
word  ?  I  need  not  say  that  there  abides  a  perfect 
conviction  in  the  mind  of  the  slave  of  the  master's 
capacity  to  teach,  of  his  superior  knowledge.  This, 
too,  exercises  a  most  salutary  influence.  It  tends  to 
produce  a  teachable  attention,  by  breaking  the  power 
of  the  love  of  darkness  in  the  natural  heart,  and  all 
those  counter  suggestions  so  certain  to  arise,  so  hard 
to  subdue ;  and  by  enlightening  his  judgment  and 
disposing  his  heart  to  receive  instruction,  since  he 
.knows  it  proceeds  from  one  who  has  much  more 
light  than  himself,  and  would  not  misdirect  him. 
What  masses  of  good  influence  thus  exerted  upon  the 
mind  of  the  slave  had  been  discarded  by  the  pride  of 
freedom.  The  gratitude  of  the  slave,  his  appreciation 
of  the  condescension  of  the  white  man,  a  feeling 
which  had  been  a  stranger  to  his  bosom  if  free,  but 
now  almost  universal  in  the  heart  of  the  man  of 
color,  can  not  fail  to  incline  him  to  give  heed  to  the 
kind  counsels  of  his  superior.  In  a  word,  the  gene: 
ral  force  of  this  relation,  first  to  give  a  directing, 
governing  influence  to  the  master,  and  thereby  to 
accustom  the  slave  to  be  controlled  and  influenced 
by  the  master,  must  exercise  an  invisible  but  mighty 
agency  in  bringing  the  slave  under  the  power  of  the 
Gospel. 

I  must  step  aside,  and  give  my  Reform  brother  a 


190  MODERN  REFORM. 

moment's  attention.  I  know  he  does  not  like  to 
hear  these  things,  and  -will  certainly  pervert  the 
teaching,  if  I  do  not  help  him.  Now,  all  this  is  no 
vindication  of  slavery  in  the  abstract ;  neither  is  it 
a  proclamation  that  if  a  child  of  Adam  would  be 
saved,  he  must  go  to  the  South  and  become  a  slave. 
But  it  is  truth,  and  truth  pertinent  to  the  case,  and 
truth  that  he  is  sure  to  overlook,  for  it  is  truth  that 
brings  up  both  sides,  and  shows  us  that  this  relation 
of  master  and  servant,  which  man  meant  for  evil,  God 
meant  for  good.  The  wrath  was  all  man's,  the  praise 
is  all  God's. 

The  sixth  historical  fact  summons  us  to  record  the 
providential  fulfillment  of  the  prediction  of  the  great 
patriarch  of  colonization.  A  free  nation !  out  of  these 
slaves  of  the  South,  the  very  posterity  of  the  African 
importation.  A  Free  Nation !  Christian  philanthropy 
has  founded  for  the  man  of  color  on  his  own  native 
shores.  Though  not  urged  with  the  vigor  which  its 
generous,  glorious  nature  demands,  this  enterprise 
has  been  gradually  developing  in  those  elements 
which  promise  ultimate  and  thorough  success.  The 
last  fact  in  this  history  would  seem  to  call  for  the 
results  of  this  mighty  experiment  of  importing  popu- 
lation from  the  darkest  quarter  of  the  globe.  And 
here  we  delight  to  say,  they  have,  in  general,  been 
just  what  we  should  have  anticipated  from  a  divine 
missionary  plan.  The  operation  of  each  successive  step 
has  produced  precisely  such  effects  as  the  plan  itself 
seemed  to  design.  Separation  from  Africa  has  work- 


REMEDIAL   SUGGESTIONS.  191 

ed  out  of  the  minds  of  this  people  all  their  inherited 
idolatries.  What  a  grand  beginning !  Importation 
into  America  has  thrown  the  light  of  Christianity 
abundantly  into  their  minds.  What  a  natural  ad- 
vance !  The  relation  of  master  and  slave,  on  the  one 
hand,  has  sustained,  multiplied,  and  improved  them 
socially,  and  on  the  other,  has  educated  in  them  an 
attentive,  respectful,  teachable,  grateful,  and  abund- 
ant reception  of  the  great  tidings  of  salvation ;  so 
that,  whatever  special  deductions  are  to  be  entered 
up  against  the  inhuman  conduct  of  some  of  those 
intrusted  with  their  management,  on  the  whole,  from 
their  earliest  landing  on  our  shores,  they  have  certain- 
ly been,  intellectually,  socially,  and  religiously,  an 
improving  people.  Oh !  what  a  comforting  fact  this, 
on  this  dark  subject!  What  valuable  advancement 
toward  the  grand  end  of  God's  plan !  And,  finally, 
the  Liberian  enterprise  has  started  in  the  American 
heart  a  pretty  strong  hope  of  the  ultimate  happy  so- 
cial as  well  as  spiritual  destination  of  the  colored 
man ;  and  though  a  violently  divided  mind  in  the 
country  has  hitherto  greatly  chilled  and  checked  this 
whole  movement,  yet,  even  under  this  heavy  disad- 
vantage, the  South  has  been  freeing  her  slaves  about 
as  rapidly  as  the  friends  of  the  colored  man,  North 
and  South,  have  been  ready  to  meet  the  expenses  of 
transportation  and  outfit. 

I  call  now  upon  all  my  Reform  brethren  to  ponder 
this  stupendous  scheme  of  Providence!  To  study 
out  this  bold  missionary  movement  of  heaven  upon 


192  MODEKX  KEFORM. 

earth !  To  look  on  and  see  that  spiritual  achieve- 
ment, the  religious  good  of  the  heathen !  This,  this 
is  palpably,  preeminently  the  one  great  object.  How 
all  things  have  been  sacrificed  to  this;  all  things 
been  made  tributary  to  this !  For  the  salvation  of 
men  how  willing  God  was  to  employ  the  cruel  wrath 
of  human  covetousness  to  inaugurate  the  great  move- 
ment. As  of  old  he  made  Joseph  a  slave  in  Egypt, 
before  he  made  Israel  free  in  Canaan,  so  now  how 
willing  God's  providence  has  been  to  surfer  temporal 
slavery  to  be  set  up  on  these  free  shores,  that  eternal 
liberty  might  ultimately  reach  the  native  land  of  the 
slave.  How  unwilling;  too,  God  was  to  shipwreck  his 
great  enterprise  by  adopting  our  wild,  runaway  no- 
tions of  human  liberty !  How  much  redemption 
work  has  actually  been  achieved  in  the  past !  How 
much  is  this  day  working  out  in  all  the  South !  And 
above  all,  what  glorious  wonderful  achievements  in 
the  kingdom  would  assuredly  cheer  all  our  future,  it 
this  whole  nation  had  but  the  heart  to  come  up  in  ear- 
nest and  work  together  with  the  God  of  providence ! 
To  facilitate  this  great  end,  and  dispose  men  to 
embark  in  this  enterprise,  let  us  seek  a  more  com- 
pact view  of  God's  plan,  so  far  as  fallible  creatures 
can  read  its  indication  in  that  class  of  historical  facts 
involved  in  his  wonderful  commingling  of  African 
and  American  population.  It  may  be  simplified  to 
two  points — ends  and  means.  The  chief  end  would 
seem  to  be  the  entire  good  of  the  man  of  color,  pre- 
sently in  this  country,  ultimately  in  his  own.  A 


REMEDIAL   SUGGESTIONS.  193 

three-fold  good — Christianity,  intelligence,  and  freedom. 
Let  them  all  be  made  Christians,  if  possible.  Let 
them  all  be  educated  to  a  practical  capacity  to  take 
care  of  themselves,  if  possible.  Let  them  all  be  ulti- 
mately brought  to  a  state  of  freedom,  if  possible. 
And  let  them  all,  or  at  least  multitudes  of  them,  be 
carried  back  to  Africa,  that  they  may  officiate  in 
every  wise  way  both  to  civilize  and  to  christianize 
their  countrymen.  The  means,  too,  would  seem  to 
be  three-fold,  and  largely  such  as  have  been  hitherto 
employed.  The  ordinary  operation  of  Christianity, 
through  the  existing  relations  of  society,  looking  to 
the  continent  of  Africa  as  a  grand  ultimate  Christian 
field.  Let  Christian  example  work  just  as  it  has 
done,  and  be  as  much  improved  as  may  be.  Let 
Christian  teaching  be  prosecuted  just  as  it  has  been, 
and  be  progressively  improved  and  augmented  as 
far  as  possible.  And  let  a  stronger  arm  be  out- 
stretched to  build  up  the  Republic  on  the  coast  of 
Africa,  and  to  direct  the  eyes  of  the  country  to  the 
enterprise.  Thus,  without  one  solitary  belligerent 
edict  of  freedom  from  the  North,  let  all  this  be  done 
through  kind  Christian  suasion.  Let  all  parties  ever 
cherish  fraternal  respect  and  confidence — the  North 
and  the  South  improving  opportunities  for  instruc- 
tion and  general  cultivation  under  the  government 
of  that  sensible  Christianity,  which  feels  that  it  has 
no  right  to  interfere  with  the  existing  relations  of 
society,  which  cherishes  no  disposition  to  dispute  the 
claims  of  the  master,  but  which  stands  ever  ready  to 
9 


194  MODERN  REFOKM. 

cooperate  •with  him  and  all  others  to  do  all  in  its 
power  to  advance  the  great  end  of  African  elevation. 

In  regard  to  these  means,  let  it  be  remembered 
tinder  every  disadvantage,  they  have  already  accom- 
plished a  great  work;  and  with  a  nation's  hearty 
cooperation  these  very  means  will  surely,  safely,  hap- 
pily, do  all  that  can  be  well  done  in  this  cause. 

Who  now  will  not  engage  with  us  in  this  enter- 
prise ?  Fellow-man !  Lift  up  your  eye  and  look  over 
this  lost  world !  Think — of  the  myriads  of  immortali- 
ties perishing  every  hour !  Of  the  multiplied  myriads 
all  over  the  earth  who  must  go  down  to  hell  ere,  in 
the  ordinary  course  of  providence,  the  Gospel  can 
reach  them,  and  the  dark  grasp  of  the  apostasy 
upon  their  souls  be  un-clenched  !  Think,  oh !  think, 
above  all  good  conceivable  by  man,  what  unspeak- 
able joy  would  thrill  the  whole  family  of  heaven  and 
earth,  if  our  blessed  Christianity  could  only  be  car- 
ried with  power  to  the  perishing  tribes  of  our  race ! 
Bring  now  all  these  Christian  reflections  to  one  point. 
To  work  in  this  field  and  drive  on  the  conversion  of 
the  world,  tell  me  where,  in  all  your  wide  survey,  do 
you  behold  such  a  sight  as  our  country  presents? 
"  For  ask  now  of  the  days  that  are  past,  which  were 
before  thee,  since. the  day  that  God  created  man  upon 
the  earth ;  and  ask  from  the  one  side  of  heaven  unto 
the  other,  whether  there  hath  been  any  such  thing  as 
this  great  thing  is,  or  hath  been  heard  like  it  ?  Did 
ever  God  essay  to  go  and  take  him  a  nation  from  the 
midst  of  another  nation,  by  a  mighty  hand  and  a 


REMEDIAL  SUGGESTIONS.  195 

stretclied-out  arm,  according  to  all  that  the  Lord  hath 
done "  for  you  and  for  these  Africans  before  your 
eyes?  In  view  of  this  most  singular  fact  in  the  his- 
tory of  God's  dealings  with  this  country,  what  nation 
on  earth  has  such  an  opportunity  to  send  the  Gospel 
to  heathen  men,  as  we  have  had  to  'give  the  Gospel 
to  our  embosomed  pagans?  What  nation  under 
heaven  has  such  an  opportunity  to  send  the  Gospel 
powerfully  to  heathen  shores  as  we  have,  through 
our  Christianized,  liberated  slaves,  to  send  the  Gospel 
to  the  dark  tribes  of  Africa?  Now,  if  spiritual 
achievement,  the  salvation  of  man,  is  the  great  work 
of  the  Church,  has  not  the  providence  of  God  opened 
a  field  for  us — a  field  so  peculiar,  so  broad,  so  pro- 
ductive heretofore  under  all  disadvantages,  so  promis- 
ing in  the  future,  if  faithfully  cultivated — that  the 
very  thought, pf.it  should  precipitate  us  in  the  dust 
of  his  feet,  that  we  have  not  more  heartily  appreci- 
ated it  hitherto ;  that  the  very  thought  of  the  pro- 
longed opportunity  of  its  cultivation  should  make  us 
spring  to  atone  for  the  past,  by.  giving  ourselves 
most  earnestly  to  the  work  in  the  future  ? 

Did  I  say  that  in  the  present  exasperated  condition 
of  American  mind,  this  is  not  the  day  for  new  sug- 
gestions upon  the  subject  of  slavery?     And  is  it  not 
trae  that  George  Whitefield,  or  George  Washington, 
might  be  concerned  for  the  issue,  if  even  they  should 
%ittempt  to  mjtliatejibetween  eler^eiiilMao  distantly  and 
'^cTecicfeafy  separSCtec^as  ^^he-S^lran'drtiie  South? 
But,  my  brethren  and  countrymen,  where  are  we? 


196  MODERN  EEFORM. 

Have  we  not  a  plan  before  us  ?  A  plan  of  operation 
upon  the  subject  of  slavery  ?  Has  it  not  all  the  ele- 
ments of  a  plan  ?  Contriver,  contrivance,  means,  and 
ends  ?  In  its  scope  does  it  not  cover  the  entire  case, 
the  present  conversion  and  elevation  of  imported 
men,  and  the  ultimate  evangelization  of  their  country  ? 
Is  it  not  a  plan  inaugurated,  and  therefore  free  from 
the  objection  of  novelty ;  inaugurated  by  Providence 
himself,  and  therefore  free  from  the  peril  of  a  pro- 
posal by  a  North  man  or  a  South  man,  or  a  man  at 
all  ?  Is  it  not  a  plan  strikingly  divine  in  all  its  face 
and  agency  ?  God  must  work  up  man's  wickedness 
in  his  plans ;  no  surprise,  therefore,  that  he  should 
employ,  man's  outrageous  cruelty  in  making  slaves, 
to  bring  the  heathen  to  this  country,  sustain  them  in 
this  country,  and  subject  them  to  the  Christian  influ- 
ence of  this  country.  God  must  work  up  man's  re- 
pugnances as  well  as  his  benevolence,  in  his  plans. 
No  surprise,  therefore,  when  Christianity  shall  have' 
qualified  them  for  freedom,  that  he  should  employ 
the  one  to  press  the  Africans  back  to  their  country, 
since  two  races  so  separated  never  could  dwell  to- 
gether on  an  equality ;  and  the  other  to  co-work  to 
the  same  end,  since  their  personal  happiness  and  the 
conversion  of  their  country  both  call  for  their  return. 
And  is  it  not  a  remarkable  fact  that  whatever  strife 
has  arisen  upon  this  subje.ct,  in  our  land,  that  strife 
has  nothing  to  d^with  the  subject  as  involved  in  this 
plan,  except  to  establish  its  Efficiency  to  accomplish  its' 
great  ends,  since  from  the  beginning,  it  has  achieved 


REMEDIAL   SUGGESTIONS.  197 

so  much  under  so  great  disadvantage  ?  My  country- 
men and  brethren !  If  on  this  perplexing  and  peril- 
ous subject,  this  nation  can  come  together  as  fellow- 
citizens,  or  should  work  together  as  fellow-servants  of 
Christ,  does  it  not  become  us,  with  an  honest  heart, 
to  try  that  plan  which  Grod  himself  has  marked  out 
for  us  so  plainly  by  Christian  principle,  wonderful 
providence,  natural  laws,  the  remarkable  early  pre- 
diction of  an  eminently  holy  and  gifted  man,  and  the 
strong  coincident  judgment  of  so  many  intelligent 
and  excellent  minds  in  our  own  day !  Yes !  that 
plan  which  has  already  received  such  striking  testi- 
mony of  his  favor,  notwithstanding  all  our  neglect. 
I  do  most  earnestly  solicit  -the  confirmation  of  your 
conviction  of  the  claims  of  this  plan  by  an  examina- 
tion of  two  independent  and  decisive  facts. 

I.  All  those  classes  of  American  sentiment  which 
have  hitherto  refused  to  cooperate  with  us  on  this 
plan,  if  I  mistake  not,  will  be  found  upon  examina- 
tion not  only  untenable,  but  it  will  be  clearly  seen 
that  the  very  ends  which  these  objectors  seek,  can 
only  be  obtained  by  adopting  the  very  system  to 
which  they  object — can  only  be  reached  by  hearty  co- 
operation  with  us  on  the  plan  of  God's  wonderful 
providence. 

As  we  have  said  before,  and  must  perpetually  re- 
peat, the  grand  truth  in  a  word,  is  this :  All  these 
objections  have  their  origin  in  wrong  views  upon  the 
subject  of  slavery,  and  their  remedy  only  in  those 
just  views  upon  the  subject  which  (rod's  plan  in* 


198  MODERN   REFORM. 

volves.     Specific  investigation  will  indorse  this  posi- 
tion. 

1.  The  restiveness  of  my  Reform  brother  is  ill-con- 
tent with  any  scheme  which  does  not  deposit  all  its 
blessings  upon  the  slave — instanter. 

One  glance  should  destroy  this  cherished  notion. 
Outward  changes,  without  inward  culture,  make  no 
great  contributions  to  human  welfare.  The  good  of 
man  lies  principally  in  the  position  of  his  intellectual 
faculties,  moral  feelings,  and  practical  habits.  In 
each  of  these  respects,  the  Southern  negro  needs  a 
great  improvement  in  order  to  be  qualified  for  a  be- 
neficial freedom.  To  make  these  attainments,  time  is 
indispensable.  Disband  every  University,  College,  and 
School,  male  and  female,  at  the  North,  and  ship  all 
their  Presidents,  Professors,  Tutors,  and  Teachers  to 
the  South,  and  enlist  every  additional  volunteer  or 
stipendiary  you  can  command.  Give  them  all  facili- 
ties for  their  work ;  and  let  this  be  nothing,  nothing 
but  the  proper  education  of  Southern  slaves  for  their 
freedom ;  and  long,  long  years  shall  pass  ere  you 
witness  any  very  sensible  progress  upon  the  great 
mass  of  the  pupils.  You  can  not,  in  our  day,  take 
up  the  negro  and  place  him  in  the  white  family  where 
he  shall  see  all  their  culture,  hear  all  their  words, 
breathe  all  their  feelings,  and  have  no  subsequent 
connection  with  persons  of  his  own  color.  Conse- 
quently, every  teaching  enterprise  must  encounter 
this  vast  hindrance.  You  put  your  light  into  the 
mind  of  the  negro,  he  then  leaves  you  and  goes  down 


REMEDIAL   SUGGESTIONS.  199 

to  the  people  of  his  own  complexion,  and  they  put 
it  out.  To  lift  one,  therefore,  is  measurably  to  lift 
all !  How  clear  it  is,  that  preparation  for  freedom 
must  come  to  the  bondman  by  degrees  I  He  who 
would  indeed  befriend  our  degraded  fellow-creatures, 
must,  must  come  to  this  palpable,  common-sense  view 
of  his  case.  Assuredly,  the  good  the  negro  lacks,  is 
far,  far  more  a  personal  than  a  relative  change.  Alter 
his  relations  as  you  may,  shower  upon  him  all  the 
franchises  of  the  earth,  as  you  can,  if  his  intellectual 
and  moral  cultivation  are  not  brought  up  to  the  ne- 
cessities of  his  new  condition,  freedom  itself  will  only 
curse  the  beneficiary.  He,  therefore,  who  conceives 
that  the  needed  good  of  this  population — Christianity, 
cultivation,  &&&  freedom,-- can  all  be  wellsecured  in  one 
generation,  instead  of  getting  into  the  privileged  pe- 
riod of  light  and  progress,  has  gone  back  eighteen 
hundred  years,  and  resurged  in  the  age  which  just- 
ified faith  in  miracles.  Nor  should  the  tardy  action 
of  moderate  views  tempt  you  for  a  moment  to  aban- 
don them.  Why  not  abandon  the  whole  system  of 
Foreign  Missions  ?  How  protracted  its  agency — how 
contracted  its  results !  Why  not  give  up  the  Bible  ? 
At  work  ever  since  the  fall,  it  has  not  vanquished  all 
sin  yet !  Connecticut  had  but  three  thousand  slaves  to 
set  free ;  she  has  completed  her  work  only  within  the 
last  ten  years.  Only  exercise  your  good  sense,  my 
friend,  and  the  kindness  of  your  heart,  and  it  will  not 
cast  the  slightest  shade  of  depression  over  your  spirit 
that  these  fellow-men  obey  God  and  abide  in  their  call- 


200  MODERN   REFORM. 

ing  yet  a  Httle  longer.  You  forget  where  you  are  ! 
We  are  not  in  heaven  yet.  We  are  all  on  this  upturned 
earth !  Every  thing  everywhere  is  out  of  order. 
You  can  not  set  all  things  right  in  a  day.  Let  us 
take  care  of  the  best  things  first.  Come  up,  then, 
like  a  man,  and  lay  your  shoulder  to  this  good  work, 
and  with  a  good  heart  let  us  all  heave  together ;  and 
heave  not  for  your  fanciful  liberty,  but  for  spiritual 
achievement!  for  spiritual  achievement  just  there 
where  our  great  Leader  in  person  stands  and  heaves ! 
Yes,  my  brother !  if  it  is  indeed  the  best  good  of 
the  black  man  that  you  seek  !  just  do  this,  and  you 
shall  see  that  fellow-man  rising  before  you ;  rising 
soundly  to  all  the  good  he  needs.  Nor  is  this  all  the 
reward.  Bear  with  me ;  and  I  will  reveal  you  a 
secret.  This,  this  only  way  to  help  that  man,  will 
give  your  own  soul  a  freedom  from  that  fretful  bond- 
age to  which  your  fanaticism  has  consigned  it,  and 
put  you  in  possession  of  a  holy,  benign  satisfaction 
you  never  have  felt,  and  never  can  feel  in  any  other 
way.  Surely,  we  may  count  upon  you  to  go  with  us 
in  this  enterprise. 

2.  An  analogous  obstructive  sentiment  amongst 
our  countrymen,  objects  to  the  continuance  of  slave- 
ry— more  on  the  ground  of  its  working  national  dis- 
honor, than  violating  natural  rights.  It  is  the  black 
spot  of  the  nation.  It  puts  us  in  bad  repute  with 
the  world.  It  brings  down  upon  us  the  reproach  of 
England. 

The  reproach  of  England  !     Let  England  hold  her 


REMEDIAL   SUGGESTIONS.  201 

peace  upon  this  subject.  If  she  would  set  her  eyea 
upon  disgraceful  national  injustice  to  dependent  men, 
let  her  review  her  own  conduct  to  India !  Her  treat- 
ment of  China !  Her  botch-work  of  freedom  in  the 
West-Indies,  where  she  never  paid  that  twenty  million 
pounds,  and  never  will !  and  let  her  remember  this, 
where  she  never  ministered  that  preparatory  Christ- 
ian labor  which  alone  could  have  made  freedom  a 
blessing !  Let  her  look  nearer  home,  at  her  Three 
Millions  of  Paupers  !  the  mass  of  whom,  through  her 
long  neglect,  will  not  receive  the  Gospel  from  her 
hand ;  the  mass  of  whom  would  leap  this  day, 
bo  change  places  with  the  slaves  of  the  South ;  the 
mass  of  whom  are  supposed  to  be  the  regular  de- 
scendants of  her  own  Feudal  slaves.  If  she  dishonors 
us  because  we  have  not  emancipated  our  bondmen, 
we  boldly  demand  why  those  whom  she  has  liberated, 
are  not  to-day  as  happy  as  they  are  (nominally)  free  ? 
Why  are  they  crushed,  from  generation  to  genera- 
tion, into  starvation,  and  all  such  miseries  and 
degradations,  dark  and  dreadful,  as  no  children  of 
Adam  should  ever  be  suffered  to  endure  ?  Simply 
because  she  liberated  her  slaves  as  Abolition  (God 
willing)  shall  never  force  us  to  liberate  ours ! 
England  liberated  them  without  the  necessary  pre- 
paratory work  of  Christian  philanthropy  in  the  case ; 
without  the  necessary  preparatory  work  of  a  sound 
common-sense  judgment  in  the  case  ;  in  a  word,  with- 
out the  absolutely  necessary  preparatory  discipline  of  the 
subject  in  every  such  case.  She  liberated  them  too 
9* 


202  MODERN  REFORM. 

much  from  considerations  of  political  convenience, 
social  necessity,  and  natural  promptings.  Conse- 
quently, a  wretched  work  she  did  ;  for  she  liberated 
them  hastily,  and  cursed  them  deeply  through  follow- 
ing generations.  No !  let  England  hold  her  peace, 
and  no  American  feel  himself  unduly  dishonored  by 
her  taunts  on  the  subject  of  slavery. 

That  the  continuance  of  slavery  is  necessarily  a 
national  dishonor,  is  a  palpable  error.  The  govern- 
ing truth  is  this  :  Slavery  in  a  nation  is  honorable  or 
dishonorable,  according  to  the  nation's  conduct  in 
reference  to  it ;  according  to  its  benevolent  activity, 
or  selfish  inaction.  National  dishonor,  on  this  sub- 
ject, both  real  and  imaginary,  in  our  day,  proceeds 
quite  as  largely  from  misdirection,  as  from  non-action. 
"We  can  not  be  too  frequently  reminded,  that  our 
Abolition  friends  have  pressed  their  inordinate  outcry 
against  the  outrages  of  slavery,  and  shocking  out- 
rages that  never  pertained  to  it,  so  fiercely  and  long 
that  their  own  minds,  and  the  minds  of  multitudes, 
have  been  unconsciously  driven  to  feel  that  this,  their 
extravagant  picture,  is  slavery,  and  all  that  slavery 
is ;  and  no  wonder  men  feel  that  slavery  is  a  national 
disgrace.  You  perceive  that  in  many  men,  this  sen- 
timent is  the  direct  descendant  of  that  fanatical  fancy 
upon  this  subject  which  haunts  the  imagination  of  a 
Reformer;  in  a  larger  number,  it  is  the  unintelligent, 
timid  echo  of  those  fierce  outcries,  which  have  been 
poured  into  their  ears  so  long  that  they  can  not  escape 
a  half-way  conviction  that  there  must  be  something 


REMEDIAL   SUGGESTIONS.  203 

awfully  wicked  in  the  most  justifiable  condition  of 
slaveholding.  At  any  rate,  it  will  not  do,  just  now, 
to  think  otherwise,  and  face  the  storm.  Now  I  sub- 
mit it  to  my  fellow-men,  whether  there  is  not  a  want 
of  intelligence,  and  even  of  virtue,  in  this  morbid 
impression,  and  whether  it  is  not  much  more  manly 
to  rise  up  and  fling  off  the  incubus. 

Every  man  knows,  had  there  been  one  tithe,  one 
solitary  tithe  of  truth  in  the  monstrous  picture  of 
slavery  which  Abolitionism  has  ground  into  the 
imaginations  and  sympathies  of  half  the  North, 
American  Slavery  would  have  disappeared  genera- 
tions ago,  and  not  a  solitary  sufferer  had  survived  to 
groan  under  its  diabolical  oppression.  "While  the 
nature  of  things  bears  this  testimony  on  the  one  hand, 
there  is  a  voice  of  corroborative  history  on  the  other, 
which  no  Reformer  will  have  the  boldness  to  dispute. 
These  slaves,  in  the  hands  of  their  masters, have  lived 
along  through  successive  generations,  multiplying 
faster  even  than  their  masters ;  in  general  intelligence 
and  capacity  to  take  care  of  themselves  slowly  im- 
proving from  the  beginning ;  hundreds  of  thousands  of 
them  liberated  ;  hundreds  of  thousands  of  them  con- 
verted to  God ;  all  of  them  the  recipients  of  an  amelio- 
rating discipline  from  year  to  year ;  and  the  more  intel- 
ligent, casting  their  eyes  across  the  waters  upon  that 
bright  beacon  lifted  up  on  their  own  native  shores,  to 
tell  of  the  good  things  which  peradventure  a  kind  Pro- 
vidence has  in  store  for  their  coming  generations.  I 
affirm  that  all  this,  as  far  as  it  goes,  is  a  solid  honor 


204  MODERN   REFORM. 

to  tliis  country ;  and  if  no  man  has  a  right  to  ex- 
punge truth,  should  be  felt  and  acknowledged  to  be 
such.  Not  by  any  means  what  should  have  been 
done  for  them ;  not  by  any  means  what  would  have 
been  done  for  them,  if  the  South  had  been  less  self- 
ish, and  the  North  less  hostile ;  not  by  any  means 
what  I  do  trust  from  this  day  a  better  spirit  North 
and  South  will  do  for  them ;  but  still,  quite  enough  to 
justify  a  sensible  man  in  relieving  himself  of  some 
portion  of  the  national  dishonor  of  which  we  hear 
so  much. 

If  this  thought  gives  you  no  relief,  I  am  sure  you 
will  feel  ample  deliverance  in  another.  Where  are 
you  ?  In  the  world,  where  to  get  back  earthly  rights 
and  find  nature's  blessings  is  the  great  end  of  man  ? 
Away  with  the  shallow  offspring  of  a  fallen  nature  ! 
No  !  Holy  accomplishment !  Kescue  from  sin  !  Ke- 
turn  to  God !  This  is  our  work !  This  is  dignity, 
honor,  and  glory!  Yes!  the  very  substance  and 
brilliancy  of  it !  This "  it  is,  therefore,  wherewith 
every  sensible  and  good  man  graduates  the  glory  of 
every  movement.  Oh !  now !  if  our  country,  our 
whole  country,  would  but  give  heed  to  our  earnest 
exhortation  ;  if  North  and  South,  standing  together 
as  brethren,  would  but  look  to  yon  dark  land  where 
sin  unreproved,  wreaks  its  bitterest  vengeance,  its 
fiercest  cruelties,  upon  our  apostate  fellow-creatures 
from  generation  to  generation ;  and  then  look  into 
our  own  bosom  upon  the  millions  of  this  very  people 
by  the  marvellous  compassion  of  the  Friend  of  sin- 


REMEDIAL   SUGGESTIONS.  205 

ners — mark !  under  the  process  of  evangelization  ;  final 
ly,  if  under  this  vision  they  could  but  feel  the  heart 
to  reason*thus :  "  By  all  this,  God  must  be  turning 
our  eyes  to  Africa !  By  all  this,  God  is  surely 
crying  aloud  to  us :  '  See !  I  have  placed  in  your 
hand  the  best  instrument,  the  very  brightest  lamp 
on  earth  to  light  the  darkness  of  that  suffering,  per- 
ishing people !  Awake !  Enkindle  your  lamp  !  and 
send  it  to  fling  its  saving  light  over  that  gloomy  re- 
gion and  shadow  of  death,  that  Ethiopia  may  be 
emancipated  from  her  long,  dark  oppressions,  and 
stretch  out  her  hand  unto  God !' "  Oh  !  I  do  say :  If 
the  United  States  of  America  would  only  look  at  her 
slaves  through  the  light  of  this  vision,  and  spring  to 
the  work  with  united  heart  and  hand,  she  would 
cover  herself  with  a  glory,  a  substantial,  elevated  moral 
glory,  which  would  not  only  sweep  away  the  shallow 
obloquies  of  inconsiderate  men,  but  secure  to  herself 
a  standing  before  heaven  and  earth  which  no  nation 
ever  approached/ 

Strict  history  I  suppose  it  to  be,  that  no  consider- 
able body  of  slaves  have  ever  yet  been  emancipated 
in  this  world,  to  their  own  advantage.  The  reason 
is  simply  this :  Christianity  did  not  do  the  work. 
Indirectly,  she  may  have  worked  out  necessities  felt 
by  selfish  considerations,  by  political  convenience, 
morbid  imagining,  or  unreflecting  natural  sensibility ; 
but  Christianity  herself  did  not  deliberately  take  the 
case  in  hand,  and  go  to  work  as  we  recommend, 
or  rather  as  God's  plan  proposes.  Oh !  the  glory  ! 


206  MODERN  REFORM:. 

the  national  glory  of  this  work !  If  I  have  one  spark 
of  patriotism  in  my  soul,  nothing  in  all  the  compass 
of  national  doings  could  so  cheer  it  as  a  nation's  union 
to  work  out  conscientiously,  kindly,  firmly,  that  great 
spiritual  achievement  to  which  our  embosomed  nation 
of  foreigners  summons  us.  O.ir  revolutionary  strug- 
gle was  nothing  to  it.  Our  victories  in  Mexico,  no- 
thing to  it.  Our  free  institutions,  broad  territory, 
boundless  wealth,  bold  enterprise — all  nothing,  no- 
thing to  it  The  judgment,  generosity,  fidelity,  faith, 
and  felicity  of  such  an  accomplishment !  Why,  it 
would  compose  a  far  brighter  diadem  of  glory  than 
ever  adorned  earthly  sovereignty. .  I  confess,  with 
vehement  indignation  my  soul  has  often  burned  with- 
in me,  as  I  have  listened  to  my  countrymen  and 
Christian  brethren,  who  so  far  from  the  slightest 
sympathy  with  the  view  presented,  have  been  calling 
out  impatiently  for  an  instantaneous  emancipation  of 
all  our  slaves  simply  that  we  might  thereby  throw 
off  at  once  the  heavy  national  disgrace  of  the  institu- 
tion. Do  your  work  !  Free  all  the  slaves  to-day ! 
"Where  are  the  slaves  to-morrow  ?  Where  are  the 
whites  to-morrow  ?  Where  is  the  peace  and  order 
of  society,  to-morrow  ?  Where  is  the  prosperity  of 
the  nation,  to-mOrrow  ?  I  freely  acknowledge  it,  my 
mind  is  the  very  antipode  of  this  thought.  I  do  hold, 
in  this  nineteenth  century,  in  this  age  of  Progress 
and  New  light,  this  nation  could  never  survive  the 
disgrace — I  repeat,  it  could  never  survive  the  dis- 
grace, the  sin,  of  such  an  edict !  In  our  personal  con- 


REMEDIAL  SUGGESTIONS.  20 i 

duct,  it  would  be  the  throwing'  down  of  a  cross  by 
refusal  to  enter  upon  a  long  line  of  arduous  and  self- 
denying,  but  most  obvious,'  honorable,  and  profitable 
duty  ;  in  its  universal  bearing,  it  would  be  murder  of 
our  slaves,  confusion  to  the  master,  affliction  to  the 
country,  desertion  of  Africa,  and  condemnation  of 
providence. 

This  class  of  our  countrymen  will  certainly  go 
with  us.  It  is  the  honor  of  our  country  which  they 
seek.  Not  one  spark  of  national  honor  on  this  subject 
is  accessible,  except  through  this  very  plan.  No  pos- 
sible escape  from  national  disgrace,  if  we  neglect  it 
any  longer.  Surely,  surely,  you  will  go  with  us ! 

3.  There  is  another  class  of  public  sentiment  which 
declines  to  come  up  to  our  help,  for  a  very  different 
reason.  They  say  :  "The  work  of  removing  our  colored 
population  to  Africa,  is  too  great" 

They  enter  into  calculations.  They  compare  the 
magnitude  of  the  operation  with  the  feebleness  of  the 
agency.  Three  millions  of  slaves — if  the  cost  of 
transportation  and  outfit  for  each  is  reduced  to  the 
sum  of  fifty  dollars,  the  enterprise  will  demand  one 
hundred  and  fifty  millions  of  dollars;  and  where  shall 
we  look  for  such  a  mighty  mass  of  means  ? 

This  view  chills  the  soul.  Its  advocates  judge  our 
notions  a  little  wild  and  uncalculating,  the  creature 
of  enthusiasm,  destitute  of  a  sound  business  view  of 
the  case. 

Our  fellow-men,  I  think,  are  mistaken.  "What  has 
been  done  in  the  past,  may  be  done  in  the  future. 


208  MODERN   REFORM. 

During  the  last  thirteen  years,  we  have  imported  into 
this  country  three  millions  six  hundred  and  thirty-five 
thousand  four  hundred  and  sixty  emigrants,  and  this 
without  effort.  Should  it  please  God  to  open  a  pro- 
fitable field  of  labor  in  the  bosom  of  Africa,  in  the 
course  of  a  very  few  years,  why  may  we  not  trans- 
port to  their  native  shores  the  entire  colored  popula- 
tion of  this  country,  and  never  feel  the  withdrawal 
of  a  solitary  dollar  of  the  nation's  wealth  ? 

Does  not  the  whole  question  turn  precisely  on  this 
point  ?  Who  is  the  agent  ?  When  God  commanded 
Gideon  to  expel  the  Midianites,  he  responded :  "But, 
O  my  Lord !  wherewith  shall  I  save  Israel  ?  Behold ! 
my  family  is  poor  in  Manasseh,  and  I  am  the  least  in 
all  my  father's  house."  But  God  replies :  "  Surely,  I 
will  be  with  thee  ;  and  thou  shalt  smite  the  Midian- 
ites as  one  man." 

If  Gideon  alone  is  to  fight  the  Midianites — this  is 
one  case.  If  God  is  to  fight  with  him — this  is  quite 
another !  What  was  the  issue  ?  God  made  lamps 
and  pitchers,  without  a  sword  or  a  blow,  vanquish 
the  most  powerful  and  victorious  army  on  earth  in 
that  day.  Inadequate  means  should  never  discourage 
men  in  any  field  where  God  sets  them  to  work.  God 
has  made  the  sound  of  a  ram's  horn  throw  down  the 
wall  of  a  city.  Jesus  made  clay  and  spittle  give 
vision  to  the  blind.  Be  it  remembered,  in  the  great 
work  of  African  elevation,  God  is  with  us  I  Assur- 
edly he  is  an  agent !  It  is  his  work  eminently.  He 
planned  it !  He  commenced  it !  He  has  prosecuted 


REMEDIAL   SUGGESTIONS.  209 

it.  Ho  will  never  desert  it.  We  may  not,  we  do 
not  see  how  this  work  is  to  be  accomplished.  Neither 
did  Gideon  comprehend  the  method  of  victory  when 
he  attacked  a  great  army  with  a  few  lamps.  It  was 
enough  that  God's  command  and  promise  were  on 
his  side.  '  The  same  command,  the  same  promise 
work  with  us  in  our  good  and  noble  cause.  It  may 
be,  that  God  will  send  all  our  slaves  back  to  Africa, 
or  employ  a  part  of  them  at  home  or  on  another 
field.  It  may  be  that  he  will  do  this  work  through 
the  Church  mainly,  or  bring  up  the  strength  of  the 
State  to  the  enterprise.  But  we  have  nothing  to  do 
with  these  inquiries.  "  Secret  things  belong  to 
God; things  revealed — to  us."  " Thou  shalt  love  thy 
neighbor  as  thyself,"  is  revealed  through  every  part 
of  our  work ;  and  depend  upon  it,  we  shall  hide  this 
revelation  from  our  consciences,  if  we  allow  ourselves 
to  be  discouraged  by  any  unbelief  on  this  head. 
God  has  good,  and  great  good  in  view.  He  can  ac- 
complish all  his  ends,  whatever  they  are.  We  have 
nothing  to  do  but  to  trust  God  and  go  forward.  If 
we  will  only  deny  ourselves,  and  take  up  our  cross, 
and  set  to  work,  he  will  avert  all  perils,  provide  all 
supplies,  give  wise  direction  as  we  need  it,  and  bring 
out  a  most  glorious  issue.  Yes !  just  as  certainly  as 
we  prove  faithful  to  duty.  Surely,  then,  our  fellow- 
men  will  not  suffer  any  idea  of  impracticability  to 
keep  them  from  a  prompt  and  energetic  cooperation 
in  this  noble  cause !  Power  to  do  the  work  is  all 
they  ask;  and  is  it  not  an  all-relieving  truth,  that 


210  MODERN  REFORM. 

what  we  can  not  do  in  our  way,  God  can  do  in  his  ? 
On  this  glorious  Christian  principle  of  fidelity  to 
duty  and  faith  in  (rod,  the  principle  which  has 
achieved  all  the  work  of  the  kingdom  hitherto,  the 
principle  all-competent  to  do  all  the  work  of  the  king- 
dom yet  to  be  accomplished,  certainly,  certainly,  this 
class  of  our  fellow-men  will  take  courage,  and  in- 
stantly join  our  ranks. 

4.  The  last  adverse  sentiment  which  occurs  to  me, 
would  express  itself  in  this  language :  "  You  will 
effect  nothing.  The  South  has  too  little  sympathy 
with  any  such  movement.  In  general,  they  hold 
their  slaves  for  gain,  and  the  mass  of  the  population 
are  bitterly  opposed  to  any  enterprise  that  looks  to 
liberation,  however  remotely." 

If  the  South  refuses  to  come  up  to  an  enlightened 
view  of  the  law  of  love  to  our  neighbor,  will  you 
condemn  them,. and  yet  do  the  same  thing?  You 
have  not  advanced  a  thought  which  does  not  bind 
you  to  cooperation.  You  say  that  the  masses  do  not 
act  upon  Christian  principle  on  this  subject ;  then  does 
not  the  law  of  the  kingdom  command  us  to  use  the 
wisest  influence  to  bring  them  to  duty?  Will  the 
work  of  the  kingdom  ever  be  done  in  this  world  until 
by  some  means  they  are  brought  to  this  light  ?  Do 
you  know  one  objection  to  the  method  of  operation 
we  propose  ?  Again :  you  admit  there  are  those  at 
the  So%th  who  are  ready  for  this  movement.  Does 
not  the  law  of  reformation,  then,  command  us  to  pro- 
ceed ?  All  sound  recovery  to  virtue  must  be  grad- 


REMEDIAL   SUGGESTIONS.  211 

ual.  Nor  is  there  one  point  of  progress,  however 
early,  at  which  you.  may  stand  by,  and  in  reason  or 
conscience,  fail  to  exert  your  influence  to  advance  the 
work.  When  Luther,  on  Pilate's  staircase,  received 
that  memorable  lightning  inlet  into  his  mind  of  the 
spiritual  import  of  the  text,  "  The  just  shall  live  by 
faith,"  the  great  Reformation  commenced,  so  for  as 
he  was  concerned.  Will  that  good  man  be  justified 
in  the  day  of  judgment,  if  such  a  man  there  was,  who 
declined  to  encourage  Luther  and  cooperate  with  him 
on  this  ground,  namely,  that  when  he  looked  over 
the  earth,  he  felt  that  mankind  had  no  such  sympa- 
thy with  Luther's  spirit  and  principle  as  promised  the 
slightest  prospect  of  success  against  the  formidable 
power  arrayed  in  deadly  opposition  to  both  !  Be  the 
case  as  it  may,  your  ground  must  be  abandoned.  Let 
it  be  that  not  one  solitary  right  thought  concerning 
the  claims  of  the  African  population  in  this  country, 
is  entertained  south  of  Mason  and  Dixon's  line,  obli- 
gation to  send  that  thought  to  the  South  as  early  aa 
it  can  be  wisely  done,  will  rest  upon  us  while  we 
live.  Let  it  be  that  the  leaven  of  truth  has  com- 
menced to  work  in  the  Southern  mind,— obligation  to 
give  it  our  countenance  and  aid,  we  can  never  neglect 
and  be  innocent. 

But  we  are  happy  to  believe  that  the  elements  of 
Southern  character  and  the  condition  of  Southern 
society  is  entirely  misapprehended  by  the  objection. 
Man  at  the  South  is  like  man  at  the  North ;  he  loves 
the  world,  and  will  fight  for  his  worldly  interests,  and 


212  MODERN   REFORM. 

will  neither  sec  nor  perform  the  duty  which  calls  for 
their  sacrifice,  as  early  as  lie  will  discover  and  pur- 
sue those  things  which  promise  their  improvement 
But  the  Southern  man  is  neither  destitute  of  sympa- 
thy nor  conscience  ;  and  has  exhibited  both  on  this 
subject  to  such  an  extent,  and  in  such  a  variety  of 
ways,  as  constitute  grand  encouragement  to  lay  before 
him  any  scheme  to  promote  this  enterprise  animated 
by  Christian  wisdom  and  benevolence. 

Inspect  the  legal  archives  of  the  South  !*  Exam- 
ine the  constitutions,  laws,  and  judicial  decisions  of 
the  several  States.  They  certainly  constitute  a  relia- 
ble index  of  the  principles  and  temper  of  a  commu- 
nity. Whatever  may  be  charged  against  special 
acts  of  unkind  legislation,  Southern  law  will  be 
found  to  provide  a  scrupulous  protection  for  the  social 
welfare  of  the  slave,  extending  to  his  body,  living, 
labor,  and  comfort.  This  it  does,  not  by  commands 
only,  but  by  severe  penalties  also.  So  faithfully  have 
these  statutory  regulations  been  carried  out,  that  in 
some  districts  the  master  who  does  not  make  suitable 
provision  for  the  maintenance  and  comfort  of  his 
slave,  or  otherwise  abuses  him,  will  be  more  certainly 
presented  by  the  Grand  Jury  as  an  offender  against 
law,  than  the  white  parent  who  is  guilty  of  an  equal 
outrage  against  his  children  ;  while  in  others,  he  who 
takes  the  life  of  a  man  of  color  would  find  it  more 
difficult  to  escape  condemnation  than  if  he  had  been 
charged  upon  the  same  evidence  with  the  murder  of 

Appendix  D. 


REMEDIAL   SUGGESTIONS.  213 

a  white  man.  It  may  be  said,  in  general,  that  in 
almost  every  part  of  the  South,  public  sentiment 
works  so  efficiently  to  protect  the  slave  from  violent 
abuse,  that  from  the  earliest  days  the  slaves  have 
constantly  multiplied,  steadily  improved,  and  are 
generally  pronounced  a  happy  population.  May 
nothing  be  expected  in  the  way  of  humanity  to  the 
slave,  from  a  people  who  have  framed  such  laws  for 
their  dependents  and  executed  them  to  such  a  result  ? 
Southern  States  have  been  compelled  to  pass  laws 
forbidding  emancipation,  in  order  to  discourage  that 
sympathy  of  the  master  which  would  otherwise  in- 
ordinately augment  in  the  bosom  of  Southern  society 
a  shiftless  and  wretched  population.  The  border 
States,  Maryland,  Virginia,  Kentucky,  Missouri,  have 
seen  the  day  when  the  whole  population  have  been 
brought  very  near  to  a  proclamation  of  liberty  to  all 
the  captives  within  thdfrr  bounds.  The  South  are 
supposed  to  have  freed  near  three  hundred  fliousand 
skives.  If  we  value  them  singly  at  the  sum  of  five 
hundred  dollars,  (and  this  ratio  has  been  suggested,)  we 
are  then  authorized  to  affirm  that  the  South  have  sub- 
stantially surrendered  the  sum  of  one  hundred  and  fifty 
millions  of  dollars  in  testimony  of  their  sympathy  with 
the  freedom  of  the  race.  This  is  a  practical  expres- 
sion which  more  than  triples  the  same  kind  of  testi- 
mony given  by  North  America  for  the  conversion  of 
the  world.  Can  nothing  be  expected  for  the  liberty 
of  the  slave,  from  a  people  who  have  made  such  de- 
monstrations of  their  sympathy  in  its  behalf  ? 


214  MODERN   REFORM. 

I  have  been  refused  a  contribution  to  send  the 
Bible  to  China  by  a  Southern  gentleman  who  made 
no  profession  of  religion,  but  who  forthwith,  at  his 
own  instance,  paid  me  for  five  hundred  Bibles,  and 
the  cost  of  their  transportation  from  New- York,  to 
distribute  amongst  his  own  servants,  and  those  of  his 
neighbors.  I  have  arisen  early  on  a  Sabbath  morn- 
ing and  gone  down  to  the  quarters  with  a  gray-headed 
planter,  and  sat  by  for  an  hour  or  two,  while  he  cate- 
chised his  negro  children,  sometimes  with  tears  in  his 
eyes  as  he  spoke  to  them  of  Jesus ;  and  then  accom- 
panied him  to  the  neighborhood  colored  church,  where, 
preparatory  to  preaching,  I  have  heard  the  mission- 
ary instructing  a  large  number  of  colored  boys  and 
girls,  before  a  mixed  congregation,  in  Scripture  doc- 
trine and  history,  receiving  from  them  public  answers 
to  his  interrogatories.  I  could  readily  conduct  you 
to  large  sections  of  the  Soutfc>  divided  into  districts, 
each  of  which  is  supplied  by  such  a  missionary  con- 
veniently stationed  and  supported  by  the  adjacent 
planters,  the  sole  business  of  whose  life  is  to  furnish 
all  manner  of  pastoral  service  to  his  colored  charge. 
Put  me  down  in  any  portion  of  the  South  where  the 
negro  population  abounds,  and  I  venture  to  imagine 
that  it  will  not  be  long  before  I  shall  be  enabled  to 
point  you  to  twenty  churches  built  by  unconverted 
men  for  the  religious  comfort  of  their  slaves,  and 
supplied  with  preaching;  most  of  them  plain,  'tis  true, 
but  all  of  them  commodious,  and  some  of  them 
tasteful  and  even  costly.  These  persons,  in  general, 


REMEDIAL   SUGGESTIONS.  215 

make  this  contribution  cheerfully  to  the  religion  of  their 
people ;  a  few,  because  they  are  unwilling  to  bear  that 
odium  which  the  public  sentiment  of  the  neighbor- 
hood would  assuredly  bring  down  upon  their  neglect. 
There  are  Societies  at  the  South  organized  to  promote 
the  religious  culture  of  the  slave,  which  have  pub- 
lished their  Thirtieth  Annual  Eeport;  have  never  been 
without  the  services  of  a  superintendent  of  high  min- 
isterial qualifications ;  and  which  have  imparted  a 
wholesome  impulse  to  the  work  of  religious  colored 
instruction,  by  occasionally  reading,  publishing,  and 
distributing  valuable  tracts  on  the  degradation  of  the 
slave,  the  obligation  of  the  master,  scriptural  exposi- 
tions and  catechetical  manuals.  There  are  ecclesias- 
tical bodies  at  the  South  which  require  every  minis- 
ter subject  to  their  jurisdiction,  to  preach  the  half  of 
every  Sabbath  to  the  colored  population.  There  is 
no  religious  denomination  at  the  South  which  does  not 
cheerfully  devote  a  portion  of  its  ministry  to  exclusive 
labors  for  the  spiritual  welfare  of  the  servants  of  the 
land.  Not  to  multiply  details  on  this  head,  suffice  it 
to  say,  that  there  stands  on  record  this  day  in  the 
Southern  churches  a  slave  membership  of  near  Four 
Hundred  Thousand  souls — a  number  which  greatly 
surpasses  the  heathen  church-membership  of  the 
world.  May  nothing  be  anticipated  for  the  eternal 
salvation  of  the  slave,  from  a  people  whose  history 
for  long  years  supplies  such  facts  as  these  ? 

But  to  advance  precisely  to  the  point  in  hand. 
You  speak  of  a  lack  of  sympathy  at  the  South  with 


216  MODEKN    REFORM. 

enlightened  views  upon  the  subject  of  slavery.  I 
venture  to  affirm  that  there  is  a  sentiment  upon  this 
subject  at  the  South  as  enlightened,  conscientious, 
and  Christian,  as  is  to  be  found  on  the  face  of  the 
earth.  The  end  is  always  the  same,  the  best  good  of 
the  slave  as  a  fellow-man — but  in  this  very  class  of 
men  you  will  find  great  diversity  of  sentiment  as  to 
the  best  means  of  promoting  it.  If  you  will  pardon 
my  egotism,  I  will  briefly  sketch  a  specimen  of  various 
subdivisions  of  this  noble  class  of  men.  A  wealthy 
planter  who  had  long  been  laboring  to  train  his  peo- 
ple for  a  change  in  their  condition,  but  who  made 
very  little  progress  as  he  supposed,  constructed  at 
length  a  special  system  of  management  consisting  of 
a  general  code  of  laws  and  privileges  designed  to 
educate  his  slaves  to  self-dependence  in  the  shortest 
time.  He  first  subjected  to  the  working  of  this  plan, 
one  hundred  of  his  servants  best  prepared  for  the 
discipline  of  such  an  experiment ;  a  few  years  after, 
one  hundred  and  fifty  more.  The  last  tidings  from 
this  enterprise  indicated  that  it  had  not  given  the  sat- 
isfaction anticipated.  This  class  of  men  seem  to  have 
done  all  that  could  have  been  done  for  their  slaves. 
Nay  !  This  gentleman  affirmed  that  he  lived  for  little 
else.  But  it  might  be  questioned  whether  their  interest 
in  their  welfare  does  not  tempt  them  to  haste  in  press- 
ing their  slaves  forward  toward  freedom.  "  No  hu- 
man being  knows  it,"  said  a  Southern  Christian  to  me, 
"  but  my  slaves  never  serve  another  master.  Doing 
all  for  them  in  my  power  while  I  live,  I  know  it  will 


REMEDIAL   SUGGESTIONS.  217 

be  a  dangerous  experiment  to  emancipate  them  at  my 
death.  Some  of  them  will  not  be  able  to  support 
themselves.  But  I  have  concluded,  on  the  whole,  I 
can  do  nothing  better."  This  man  felt  that  the 
longer  he  could  keep  his  slaves  under  his  guidance 
and  government,  the  better  it  would  be  for  them;  and 
though  he  deeply  desired  to  protect  them  from  possi- 
ble mistreatment,  like  many  others,  might  fear,  after 
all,  to  risk  his  own  method  when  brought  to  the  mo- 
ment of  decision.  A  larger  number  may  be  repre- 
sented by  the  mental  condition  of  one  of  the  best 
men  on  earth.  Said  he  to  me  one  day :  "I  am 
ninety  years  old.  I  must  soon  meet  God.  I  have 
various  anxieties,  but  one  disturbs  me  more  than  all 
others.  What  shall  I  do  with  my  servants  ?  You 
know  I  love  my  servants.  What  shall  I  do  with 
them  ?  If  I  free  them  here,  I  know  that  most  of 
them  will  go  to  destruction.  I  can  not  do  this.  Mr. 
Wilson,  you  know,  tells  us  not  to  send  them  to  Libe- 
ria unless  they  can  take  care  of  themselves  and  get  a 
living  at  home.  If  they  can  not  do  this,  that  they 
are  better  off  here,  temporally  and  spiritually,  than 
they  would  be  there.  What  shall  I  do  with  my 
servants  ?  What  do  you  think  of  Liberia  for  those 
who  have  no  better  qualification  than  mine  ?"  This 
was  the  precise  condition  of  a  strong  natural  mind 
apparently  freed  from  all  temptation  to  misjudgment 
either  by  worldly  circumstances — for  by  a  special  deed 
of  gift  he  had  already  given  to  each  of  his  children 
all  that  he  expected  to  give  them — or  by  lack  of  reli- 
10 


218  MODERN   REFORM. 

gious  conscience,  for  he  gave  every  indication  of  the 
residence  of  God's  spirit  in  his  heart  touching  duty 
to  servants.  "  Next  to  the  salvation  of  my  only  un- 
converted child,!'  said  he,  "  nothing  on  earth  could 
give  me  so  much  pleasure  as  the  conversion  of  Wil- 
liam. He  is  an  excellent  servaot,  but  a  great  sinner. 
I  will  send  him  into  your  chamber  every  morning  to 
make  a  fire.  Do  talk  and  pray  with  him."  "How 
does  William  feel  this  morning  ?"  was  ordinarily  one 
of  his  earliest  inquiries.  He  solicited  my  conversa- 
tion with  a  second  and  a  third,  and  could  always  tell 
me  their  precise  states  of  mind.  Did  not  this  good 
man  desire  to  know  all  his  duty  to  his  slaves  ?  Had 
he  not  sought  counsel  of  God  as  well  as  of  man  ? 
And  yet  in  their  present  condition  he  feared  to  free 
his  slaves  I  He  could  not  do  it. 

This  sketch  of  the  treatment  of  slaves  at  the  South, 
and  of  Southern  sentiments  upon  the  subject  of 
slavery,  I  do  not  present  as  a  fair  picture  of  all  South- 
ern society.  But  I  do  suppose  that  such  facts  and 
sentiments  as  these  find  a  considerable  representation 
in  all  parts  of  the  Southern  country.  One  thing  I 
apprehend  is  perfectly  clear.  These  facts  do  consti- 
tute satisfactory  evidence  of  an  all-sufficient  sympathy 
in  the  Southern  mind  with  truth  and  righteousness 
in  the  premises,  to  warrant  the  hope  of  good  from 
kind,  judicious,  moral  appeal.  Truth  pertains  to  the 
mind,  and  may  be  legitimately  addressed  to  it,  even 
when  there  is  no  truth  in  it :  Indeed,  must  be,  for 
nothing  but  truth  can  bring  mind  to  the  attitude  of 


KEMEDIAL   SUGGESTIONS.  219 

virtue.  To  hold,  therefore,  that  a  people  who  have 
given  such  abounding  evidence  of  their  interest  in 
the  social  state,  the  liberty,  the  religion,  and  the 
universal  weal  of  the  slave,  have* no  such  state  of 
mind  as  should  encourage  a  proposal  to  develop 
their  philanthropy  toward  the  man  of  color,  is  pre- 
posterous. "What!  not  sympathy  enough  at  the 
South  with  the  spiritual  condition  of  the  slave  to 
justify  you  in  countenancing  our  effort  to  work  with 
God  and  his  people,  North  and  South,  for  African 
elevation  ?  Not  sympathy  enough  to  encourage  your 
Christian  prayer,  faith,  and  liberality,  in  multiplying 
Christian  privileges  amongst  these  perishing  bond- 
men !  Why,  they  themselves  originated  this  very 
scheme,  and  have  been  carrying  it  on  to  the  present 
day,  through  all  discouragements.  The  fact  is,  we 
desire  nothing  more  than  to  enlist  the  warm,  active, 
fraternal  cooperation  of  the  North.  True,  all  human 
virtue  is  progressive  I  There  are  always  some  truths 
to  be  advanced  to  a  stronger  hold  upon  the  mind ; 
some  sentiments  to  be  enfeebled  in  their  influence 
upon  the  heart ;  some  new  principles  to  be  intro- 
duced. Doubtless  Southern  mind  has  progress  to 
make  in  this  great  cause.  Unless,  however,  you  in- 
sist that  the  Gospel  does  not  belong  to  sinners  ;  that 
man  must  be  sanctified  perfectly,  and  the  work  of  the 
Gospel  completed,  before  you  send  the  Gospel  to 
them ;  unless  you  hold  that  so  long  as  there  remains 
capacity  of  moral  improvement  in  the  man,  there  is 
no  encouragement  to  use  reformatory  truth,  you  are 


220  MODERN  REFORM. 

bound  in  principle,  my  friend,  to  go  with  us.  All 
you  have  a  right  to  ask,  is,  that  there  should  exist 
some  foundations  of  knowledge,  conscience,  and  kind- 
ness in  Southern  society,  which  may  be  appropriately 
addressed  with  a  view  to  benevolent  improvement. 
Here  you  have  ample  evidence  of  its  existence  to  an 
encouraging  degree.  From  this  hour,  then,  you  will 
cheerfully  take  your  place  by  our  side,  and  cordially 
assist  us  in  co-working  with  our  Southern  brethren  to 
carry  forward  God's  missionary  plan.  You  will  not, 
you  can  not  refuse  to  do  so. 

In  laying  by  the  first  of  our  two  grounds  of  appeal, 
we  beg  leave  to  repeat,  we  do  hold  it  a  conclusive 
argument  for  God's  providential  plan,  that  every  op- 
posing state  of  mind,  honestly  examined,  can  find  the 
good  it  seeks  in  one  only  way,  and  that  is,  by  giving 
in  its  earnest  adhesion  to  the  enterprise.  As  the 
colored  man's  friend  against  the  oppressions  of  slave- 
ry, do  you  wish  to  advance  his  best  good  ?  You 
can  truly  befriend  him  on  no  other  plan.  As  the 
nation's  friend  against  the  dishonor  of  slavery,  do  you 
desire  to  wipe  away  all  its  stain  from  her  escutcheon  ? 
You  can  never  promote  our  national  honor  in  this 
connection,  save  by  hearty  cooperation  on  this  very 
plan.  Do  you  wish  to  secure  an  efficient  power  to 
move  against  this  dark,  massive  mischief  ?  You  will 
never  find  the  cooperation  of  God  except  in  carrying 
out  his  own  providential  plan.  Do  you  desire  to 
secure  the  sympathy  of  the  South  as  necessary  to  all 
desirable  success  ?  You  will  find  the  hearty  sympa- 


REMEDIAL  SUGGESTIONS.  221 

thy  of  the  South  with  this  very  plan  and  with  no 
other. 

II.  But  the  crowning  argument  in  behalf  of  God's 
plan  lies  in  the  distinguished  blessings,  which  nothing 
but  this  very  plan  can  shower  upon  the  great  interests 
of  the  American  people,  and  which  this  plan  can  not 
fail  to  dispense  to  the  world  as  well  as  to  the  nation. 

Were  God  to  dispatch  an  angel  from  heaven  under 
a  commission  to  make  a  thorough  survey  of  this  na- 
tion in  all  its  capacities,  relations,  condition,  and 
prospects,  with  a  view  to  ascertain  the  changes  neces- 
sary to  its  very  highest  rectitude,  happiness,  useful- 
ness, and  glory,  methinks  it  would  not  surprise  the 
reflective  mind  if  the  celestial  delegate  should  return 
and  hand  up  this  report :  "Let  that  plan  of  benevo- 
lent procedure  indicated  by  God  in  his  early  provi- 
dential introduction  into  the  country  of  a  large  African 
population,  be  heartily  and  faithfully  carried  out  by 
the  whole  country — and  the  nation's  great  evils  are  all 
averted,  great  duties  all  discharged,  and  great  blessings 
all  secured."  Call  up  the  intelligence,  patriotism, 
and  piety  of  all  sections  and  parties  of  the  country, 
and  propound  this  inquiry :  "  What  does  this  nation 
need  above  all  things  ?"  Its  every  day  observation 
and  reflection  have  long  since  qualified  the  soul  of  this 
country  to  respond :  "  Three  things ;  first,  heal  the 
dissensions  of  the  nation;  these  seem  to  imperil  its 
very  existence.  Second,  that  we  may  have  no  more 
trouble  from  the  same  cause,  discharge  duty  to  the 
man  of  color,  and  to  God's  voice  in  his  importation. 


222  JIODERX  REFORM. 

And  tliird,  Oh. !  let  not  this  nation  fail  of  her  high  mis- 
sion to  scatter  around  the  world  earth's  highest  bless- 
ing— political  liberty,  and  heaven's  far  surpassing 
gift — the  freedom  of  Jesus  Christ  the  Saviour." 

1.  National  harmony  is  the  alone  fruit  of  obedience 
to  Grod's  great  providential  plan. 

Let  our  Northern  friends  remember  that  their 
fathers  took  part  in  the  importation  of  the  slave  ;  that 
God's  voice,  summoning  this  nation  to  discharge  duty 
to  the  man  of  color,  in  order  that  his  own  benign 
decrees  connected  with  his  introduction,  may  be  ac- 
complished, is  addressed  to  them  equally  with  their 
Southern  neighbors.  In  a  word,  let  them  feel  that 
they  themselves  have  their  responsibilities  to  meet  in 
this  case.  And  now,  just  let  them  advance  and  take 
their  place  and  work  for  the  accomplishment  of  the 
ends  of  this  divine  enterprise.  Let  them  encour- 
age those  who  have  to  bear  most  of  the  heat  and 
burden  of  the  day,  and  say  to  them:  "Southern 
brethren,  you  have  long  had  a  heavy  responsibility 
upon  your  shoulders ;  nor  have  you  been  entirely  un- 
faithful to  your  trust !  By  the  constitutions,  laws, 
and  courts  of  your  several  States,  you  have  thrown 
a  strong  legal  breastwork  around  the  temporal  rights 
of  the  slave,  and  largely  protected  them  from  the  neces- 
sarily perilous  power  of  the  master.  This  was  well, 
brethren  !  You  have  advanced  more  than  one  hun- 
dred millions  of  dollars  in  securing  the  freedom  of 
your  slaves.  This  was  well,  brethren  I  You  have 
been  the  favored  instruments  of  converting  to  Christ 


REMEDIAL   SUGGESTIONS.  223 

hundreds  of  thousands  of  the  souls  of  your  slaves. 
This  was  well,  brethren  !  You  have  elevated  such 
masses  of  them  to  the  possession  and  enjoyment  of 
Christianity,  that  our  own  Northern  missionary 
brethren  on  the  shores  of  Africa,  comparing  the  dark 
impenetrable  mind  of  the  heathen  around  them  with 
the  enlightened  and  shouting  Christianity  of  these 
very  heathen  under  your  training,  have  been  compelled 
to  publish  their  wish  to  the  world  that  every  black 
man  in  Africa  were  a  slave  at  the  South.*  This  is 
well,  brethren  !  By  your  principles,  sympathies,  and 
toils,  they  have  been  regularly  rising  from  the  pro- 
found degradations  of  their  first  estate  toward  the  rich 
blessings  of  a  higher  condition.  This  is  well,  breth- 
ren I  Most  of  you  are  sensible  that,  like  fallen  men, 
you  have  looked  too  much  to  your  own  worldly  in- 
terest in  your  servants,  and  too  little  to  the  infinitely 
more  exalted  interests  of  their  immortality;  and 
many  of  you  are  deeply  inquiring  after  all  the  respon- 
sibilities to  which  God  holds  you  in  this  matter.  All 
this  is  well,  brethren!  There  are  particulars,  'tis 
true,  connected  with  your  views  on  some  branches  of 
this  great  and  intricate  subject,  and  with  your  con- 
duct in  others,  concerning  which  we  shall  venture  to 
tender  to  you,  anon,  our  respectful,  fraternal  sugges- 
tions. But  go  on,  dear  brethren,  and  be  encouraged. 
We  have  a  great  work  to  do.  Our  (rod,  who  called 
us  out  to  this  work  in  so  extraordinary  a  manner, 
will  surely  go  with  us.  And  we  shall  enjoy  the 

*  Appendix  E. 


224  MODERN   REFORM. 

high  satisfaction  to  feel,  when  we  commit  this  enter- 
prise to  our  posterity,  that  we  have  been  privileged 
to  contribute  some  degree  of  self-sacrificing  effort  and 
wholesome  progress  to  one  of  the  very  largest  and 
brightest  Christian  movements  of  our  generation. 
Yes,  brethren,  you  have  our  hearty  approbation,  our 
prayers,  our  sympathies,  and  our  faith.  And  you 
must  allow  us  to  send  down  liberally  our  material 
contributions  in  all  the  blessed  work  of  applying  to 
the  dark  minds  of  OUT  proteges  the  power  of  that  one 
great  and  all-perfect  elevator  of  fallen  man,  the  Gos- 
gel  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  "We  need  not  say,  from 
time  to  time  we  shall  hope  to  hear  from  you  of  the  pro- 
gress of  our  noble  cause,  and  may  God's  richest  bless- 
ings rest  upon  your  labors." 

O  my  dear  brethren  of  the  North !  come  up  thus 
manfully  to  clear  duty  by  Q-od's  plan,  and  where 
are  the  dissensions  of  this  country  ?  Where  now  are 
our  sectional  alienations ;  our  congressional  conflicts ; 
our  newspaper  wranglings ;  our  party  malignities  ? 
"Where  now  are  our  mutual  depreciations  ;  our  per- 
sonal disputes ;  our  Anti-Slavery  mania ;  our  organ- 
izations for  disunion  ?  In  fine,  where  is  all  the  bad 
blood  of  the  nation,  North  and  South  ?  This  sacred 
plan  of  God,  honored  by  the  North :  What  a  liealer ! 
what  a  healer  of  all  the  strife  of  the  country  !  And 
what  else,  oh  !  what  else, can  heal  it  half  so  well? 

2.  Duty  to  the  man  of  color  ;  duty  to  God's  providen- 
tial voice  in  his  introduction  I 

How  can  the  nation  expect  to  prosper  if  unfaithful 


REMEDIAL  SUGGESTIONS.  225 

here?  This  tiling,  remember,  was  not  done  in  a 
corner.  When  God  brought  Africa  across  the  ocean 
to  America,  every  eye  from  one  end  under  heaven 
unto  the  other  beheld  the  mighty  movement,  and 
sought  the  object.  Surely  it  was  for  some  great  end 
that  God  did  this  great  thing.  Surely  it  was  for  no 
trifle  that  God  permitted  all  that  cruel  rending  from 
kindred  and  country ;  those  dismal,  dreadful  forebod- 
ings, those  bitter  shrieks  and  tears,  that  mournful, 
awful  breaking  of  hearts  which  marked  the  hour  of 
embarkation  from  their  native  land.  Surely  it 
was  for  no  trifle  that  God  subjected  such  a  multitude 
of  human  beings  to  all  the  nameless  horrors  and 
deaths  of  that  infernal  compression  and  oppression  on 
shipboard,  universally  adopted  to  escape  the  perils 
and  secure  the  profits  of  the  voyage.  Surely  it  was 
for  no  trifle  that  God  has  passed  this  people,  from 
father  to  son,  through  successive  generations  of  toil, 
trial,  and  degradation,  in  the  bosom  of  a  country 
where  they  must  be  the  observed  of  all  observers,  be- 
cause palpably  suffering  the  privations  of  those  natural 
dignities  which  we  of  all  men  profess  to  appreciate. 
God's  object  I  God's  object  in  all  this  ?  Assuredly 
it  was  well  worthy  of  all  the  suffering  man  was  called 
to  endure.  What  was  that  object?  God  brought 
Israel  out  of  Egypt,  that  by  his  liberty  he  might  shed 
a  salutary  light  over  the  world.  God  brought  Africa 
into  America  that,  by  bondage,  her  sons  and  daugh- 
ters might  here  catch  that  light  which  was  sent  to 
10* 


226  MODERN  REFORM. 

lighten  the  Gentiles,  and  ultimately,  through  proper 
training,  reflect  it  over  the  land  of  their  fathers. 

But,  brethren  and  countrymen,  our  nation's  con- 
duct in  the  premises !  What  tidings  has  this  con- 
duct announced  to  a  beholding  world  respecting  our 
views  of  God's  grand  and  sacred  designs  therein? 
May  not.  the  Lord  bring  up  the  North  to  testify 
against  the  South,  that  she  has  been  faithless  to  God, 
in  that  in  her  selfishness,  instead  of  working  for  God's 
ends,  she  has  employed  this  mighty  doing  of  God  too 
much  to  gratify  her  own  covetous  and  worldly  aims  ? 
May  not  the  Lord  call  up  the  South'  to  testify  against 
the  North  that  she  too  has  been  faithless  to  God,  in 
that  in  her  selfishness  she  has  withdrawn  and  otherwise 
invested  her  proportion  of  the  capital  in  trade,  and 
now,  forsooth,  instead  of  working  for  God's  ends  in 
the  conversion  of  the  people,  and  the  enlightenment  of 
Africa,  because  the  South  will  not  adopt  her  senti- 
ments and  follow  her  dictation,  gratifies  her  own 
morbid  views  of  other  men's  duties  by  withdrawing 
herself  almost  wholly  from  the  work ;  indeed,  is  just 
now  cutting  off  her  last  channels  of  missionary  ap- 
propriation. Most  assuredly  God  must  have  a  con- 
troversy with  our  people  on  this  account  I  On  all 
sides,  there  has  been  a  wicked  abandonment  of  his 
most  generous  purposes.  Nor  need  we,  as  a  nation, 
expect  any  great  blessing  from  his  hand,  while  North 
and  South  perpetuate  our  disgraceful  differences,  and 
practically  refuse  honest  cooperation  with  God  to 


REMEDIAL  SUGGESTION'S.  227 

secure  those  broad  and  gracious  ends  which  he  seeks 
through  Africa  in  America. 

But,  0  my  friends !  only  let  the  North  and  the  South 
come  up  to  a  hearty  co- working,  side  by  side,  in  God's 
providential  enterprise,  and  where  is  God's  contro- 
versy with  his  people  ?  Let  both  sections  study  to 
feel  the  full  power  of  our  fellow-man's  claims  upon 
us  for  himself  and  for  his  pagan  country.  Let  both 
sections  study  to  cherish  a  due  regard  to  the  high 
claims  of  God,  not  only  to  our  notice,  approbation, 
and  sympathy  touching  his  great  plan  for  the  conver- 
sion of  the  heathen,  but  largely  for  the  divine  honor, 
the  divine  honor  put  upon  us  in  our  being  permitted 
to  stand  by  God's  side,  and  be.  co-laborers  with  him- 
self in  such  an  enterprise !  Yes,  let  us  but  do  this, 
and  how  it  will  delight  our  heavenly  Father  to  cheer 
us  with  the  refreshing  visitations  of  his  grace  in  all 
this  field !  How  he  will  make  us  to  delight  our- 
selves in  one  another  I  For  now,  instead  of  seeking 
that  which  assists  to  dishonor  a  brother,  each  will 
find  heavenly  cheering  in  enriching  himself  with  his 
brother's  excellencies. 

3.  Bat  how !  how  shall  this  nation  do  her  great 
work  f 

The  United  States  of  America  is  the  singular  na- 
tion of  the  world !  You  can  find  pagan  nations 
enough  ;  and  between  them  and  us  half-evangelized 
nations  enough.  You  can  find  tyrannies  enough ; 
and  between  them  and  us  half-free  states  enough. 
But  where  is  there  on  the  face  of  the  earth  such  an- 


228  MODERN   REFORM. 

other  country  as  ours  !  Our  country,  thank  G-od,  is 
singular  in  her  position,  and  singular  in  her  history ; 
singular  in  the  genius  of  her  people,  and  singular  in 
the  structure  of  her  institutions;  singular  in  her 
liberty  and  her  religion,  and  singular  in  her  power 
and  her  progress.  Surely  God  has  raised  her  up, 
and  placed  her  at  the  head  of  the  nations,  to  do  a 
singular  work  on  the  earth  !  There  is  principle,  and 
intelligence,  and  wealth,  and  enterprise,  and  power 
enough  to  do  a  great  and  a  good  work  for  God  and 
man.  Yes!  and  the  earth  shall  suffer,  and  suffer 
deeply,  both  in  her  politics  and  in  her  piety,  if  she 
fails  of  the  wholesome  power  of  this  people.  God 
forbid  that  this  nation,  so  largely  endowed  and  so 
solemnly  charged,  should  prove  recreant  to  her  high 
calling !  But  there  are  signs  of  the  times,  numerous 
and  ominous,  which  make  us  anxious  for  the  issue. 
The  diabolical  bent  of  man's  heart  in  our  day  to  seek 
gain,  as  though  it  were  godliness ;  our  base  corrup- 
tion in  politics,  and  dishonesty  in  trade ;  the  shock- 
ing immoralities  of  our  great  cities,  and  our  host  of 
organized  heresies  and  new  lights  throughout  the 
country ;  our  oversight  of  God's  end  in  slavery,  and 
the  consequent  abuse  of  the  institution  at  the  South, 
and  our  fanaticism  on  this  subject  at  the  North,  with 
its  private  murder  of  charity  and  peace,  and  its  public 
shocks  in  Church  and  State ;  and  by  all  this  and  the 
like,  our  constant  provocation  of  Gtod,  and  exposure 
to  his  righteous  judgments  !  If  these  evil  elements 
and  tendencies  are  not  corrected ;  if  they  are  suffered 


REMEDIAL   SUGGESTIONS.  229 

to  be  progressively  developed,  woe  to  all  high  hopes 
of  good  from  the  peculiar  properties  and  power  of 
this  country.  "Where;  where  are  we  to  look  for 
protection  against  all  this  brewing  mischief  ? 

The  enlightened,  sincere  cooperation  of  the  nation 
in  God's  providential  plan!  Will  not  this  go  far  to 
secure  that  holy  power  of  our  country,  that  promise 
of  mighty  beneficence,  so  dear  to  every  enlightened 
patriot,  to  every  sincere  Christian  I  If  it  heals  our 
dissensions,  think,  through  all  the  land,  what  a  wicked 
waste  of  virtuous  principle  and  power  it  will  arrest  I 
What  benign  and  holy  agencies  of  charity  and  peace 
it  will  renew  !  If  it  brings  us  to  a  just  consideration 
of  God's  providence,  and  conformity  to  its  dictates, 
think,  what  an  impediment  to  God's  blessing  upon 
the  nation's  work  it  will  remove  !  How  much  nearer 
it  will  bring  us  to  God  and  God  to  us  in  all  our  aims, 
agencies,  and  influence!  "Behold!  a  man  turned 
aside  and  brought  a  man  uito  me,  and  said,  Keep 
this  man !  If  by  any  means  he  be  missing,  then 
shall  thy  life  be  for  his  life,  or  else  thou  shalt  pay  a 
talent  of  silver."  Behold  how  far  the  Lord  turned 
aside  from  his  ordinary  providence  when  he  brought 
the  black  man  to  our  shores,  and  left  him  in  our 
hands  with  a  solemn  injunction  of  special  duty  to  the 
captive !  If  this  nation  returns  to  her  commanded 
vigilance  and  fidelity  to  this  man.,  think  what  a  qual- 
ification will  she  thereby  acquire  to  feel  for  all  the 
captives  and  pagans  of  the  earth !  Oh !  what  a  rich 
missionary  spirit  will  she  thereby  necessarily  imbibe  I 


230  MODERN  REFORM. 

"Without  enlarging  the  detail  of  favorable  special  in- 
fluences -which  must  follow  the  nation's  return  to 
duty,  there  is  one  general  view  in  which  national 
fidelity  to  God's  providence  would  seem  to  consti- 
tute the  precise  qualification  to  resuscitate  and  per- 
fect our  very  highest  national  power  for  the  conver- 
sion of  the  world. 

Activity  in  evil  is  the  necessary  result  of  inaction 
in  the  good  principle.  Activity  in  good  is  the  direct 
overthrow  of  evil  agency.  Behold  that  large,  wealthy, 
powerful,  but  impotent  Church  !  It  is  orthodox  and 
orderly !  and  this  is  all.  It  has  no  faith,  nor  prayer, 
nor  liberality,  nor  language,  nor  life.  But  let  that 
Church  colonize !  let  it  set  up  half-a-dozen  mission 
schools !  let  it  set  out  to  raise  funds  for  a  professor- 
ship !  start  it  up  to  do  any  great  thing  for  the  Lord  1 
By  all  the  laws  of  nature  and  of  Scripture,  this  very 
movement  shall  work  a  resurrection  of  that  dead 
body.  Formality,  pri  le,  coldness,  covetousness,  un- 
belief, and  every  other  evil  thing,  is  worked  off  by 
the  good  working  of  love,  faith,  zeal,  and  prayer. 
Our  nation,  our  beloved  nation,  after  all  our  phari- 
saic  opinions  of  its  orthodoxy,  piety,  and  usefulness, 
is  not  a  little  like  that  magnificent,  over-grown,  half- 
dead  Church.  The  feeling  and  the  working  of  this 
nation  in  the  kingdom,  what  is  it  in  comparison  with 
what  it  should  be  in  view  of  these  four  things — the 
light  in  our  minds,  the  power  in  our  hands,  the  ne- 
cessities of  the  earth,  and  the  claims  of  our  Saviour ! 
As  a  nation,  we  have  a  little  interest  in  Foreign  Mis- 


REMEDIAL  SUGGESTIONS.  231 

sions,  and  a  little  in  Missions  at  home ;  a  little  inter- 
est in  the  cause  of  the  Bible,  and  a  little  in  the  Tract 
cause.  Indeed,  we  have  a  little  interest  in  many 
good  things.  But  a  large  heart,  or  a  powerful  arm  for 
any  thing,  any  thing  in  the  kingdom,  we  have  not. 
This  nation  has  never  yet  been  stirred  up  to  the 
foundations,  and  shaken  and  started  to  her  lowest 
roots  as  she  should  be  by  the  boasted  light  of  this 
nineteenth  century.  This  great  New  light,  this  light 
of  Progress,  makes  us  Eeformers,but  does  not  rectify 
us  ;  disputants,  but  not  doers.  Our  religion  is  shame- 
fully querulous,  but  feeble ;  wordy,  but  empty.  Oh ! 
this  nation  needs  to  be  worked  over  by  God's  mighty 
truth  and  Spirit,  that  she  may  work  off  her  vicious 
features  by  working  out  naturally  and  powerfully  the 
great  elements  of  love  to  (rod  and  man.  Now,  what 
more  suitable  means  to  accomplish  this  can  man  con- 
ceive, than  fidelity  to  God's  great  Africo- American 
missionary  enterprise  !  If  we  can  not  move  in  view 
of  such  a  cause,  what  can  start  us  ?  Only  let  this 
nation  lend  her  eye,  heart,  and  hand  to  this  noble, 
neglected  work.  Let  her  take  in  all  its  great  thoughts, 
high  duties,  rich  promises,  bright  prospects,  and  feed 
upon  them.  Let  her  fill  her  private  meditations, 
the  converse  of  the  parlor,  the  car,  and  the  work- 
shop, the  worship  of  the  domestic  altar,  and  the 
exhortation  of  the  pulpit,  with  the  fire  of  this  great 
topic.  Let  her  do  this,  and  the  result  is  inevitable — 
she  must  stretch  herself  up  toward  God,  and  spread 


232  MODERN   REFORM. 

herself  out  toward  the  heathen,  and  work  mightily 
and  gloriously  for  the  conversion  of  the  world. 

Tell  me,  my  dear  brethren,  can  you  believe  it  but 
the  vision  of  an  earnest  fancy,  that  if  this  whole  na- 
tion, honest  as  in  the  very  sight  of  God,  would 
throw  away  her  sectional  prejudices  North  and  South, 
cost  the  sacrifice  of  pride  what  it  may,  confess  her 
guilty  deficiencies  and  sins  in  the  past,  be  the  humi- 
liation what  it  must,  and  come  up  to  the  help  of  the 
Lord;  if  she  would  first  inquire  concerning  the 
sons  and  daughters  of  Africa  in  the  midst  of  us, 
"Lord,  what  wilt  thou  have  me  to  do?"  and  then  set 
to  with  all  her  heart  to  do  the  work  of  the  Lord;  tell 
me,  I  say,  under  God,  would  not  this,  the  nation's 
fidelity  to  God  and  his  imported  man  of  color,  would 
it  not  avert  her  great  perils,  discharge  her  great 
duties,  secure  her  great  usefulness,  and  verify  the 
report  of  the  angel  ? 

Survey,  then,  God's  providential  plan  connected 
with  the  slaves  of  the  South,  means  and  ends,  as  in- 
terpreted above.  Brethren  and  countrymen,  dis- 
tinctly respond  to  these  three  inquiries.  On  the  face 
of  this  transaction  is  there  not  a  light  which  forces 
every  soul  of  you  to  say :  "  This  thing  proceedeth 
from  the  Lord"?  Have  you  not  seen,  too,  that  every 
objection  to  cooperation,  examined,  proves  an  argu- 
ment? Have  you  not  seen,  again,  that  national  union, 
in  obedience  to  God's  providence,  naturally  and  beau- 
tifully works  out  all  the  great  ends  the  Church  and 
the  nation  should  desire  ?  Where,  then,  is  that  man's 


REMEDIAL   SUGGESTIONS.  233 

refuge  from  condemnation  by  conscience  and  by  God, 
•who  does  not  instantly  lend  a  hand  to  this  most  no- 
ble work  ?  By  that  help  and  blessing  waiting  for  us 
from  above,  shall  not  our  whole  country,  from  this 
very  day,  move  up  into  the  light  of  God's  counte- 
nance, and  side  by  side,  commence  to  struggle  earnest- 
ly with  heaven  for  the  accomplishment  of  this  divine, 
this  wonderful  enterprise  ? 

What  a  question  is  thrown  upon  us  at  this  point ! 

"Where  lies  the  impediment?  Eminently  just  here, 
in  the  lack  of  a  kind  heart  on  the  part  of  the  North  to- 
ward tiie  /South. 

But  is  there  no  lack  in  the  heart  of  the  South  to- 
ward the  North  ?  Certainly,  certainly.  Why,  then, 
do  you  exclude  the  South  from  your  statement  con- 
cerning the  grand  necessity  to  the  nation's  welfare  ? 
I  will  tell  you,  my  friend.  Bear  in  mind,  I  am  now 
particularly  addressing  the  North.  It  is  proper, 
therefore,  that  I  should  give  prominence  to  the  de- 
ficiencies and  duties  of  the  North.  Again:  Anti- 
South  is  rather  more  chargeable  to  the  North,  than  is 
Anti-North  to  the  South.  Not  hatred  of  the  North, 
but  love  of  her  own  institutions,  is  the  distinguish- 
ing feature  of  the  Northern  charge  against  the  South. 
This  the  language  of  the  North  admits  —  "Pro- 
Slavery"  Not  retaliation  of  Southern  assault,  but 
opposition  to  an  institution  of  the  South,  from  the 
beginning  was  the  distinguishing  feature  of  the 
Northern  spirit;  this,  too,  universal  language  con- 
cedes— "Anti- Slavery"  The  opposition  of  the  South 


234  MODERN  EEFORM. 

to  the  conduct  of  the  North  is  the  resulting,  not  the 
primary  attitude  of  Southern  mind;  whereas,  oppo- 
sition to  Southern  institutions  was  the  primary,  not 
the  consequential,  attitude  of  Northern  mind.  In 
the  beginning,  the  South  did  not  set  out  to  force  the 
North  to  adopt  her  principles,  but  the  North  to  bring 
the  South  to  hers. 

Again.  Duty,  as  indicated  by  our  construction  of 
God's  providence,  the  Christian  South  has  not  entire- 
ly neglected ;  but  duty,  as  so  indicated,  that  portion 
of  the  Christian  North  I  address,  has  utterly  aban- 
doned; and  therefore  it  peculiarly  becomes  them 
to  study  to  cultivate  a  kinder  feeling  toward  their 
Southern  neighbors. 

The  all-governing  reason,  in  my  view,  however,  I 
desire  to  be  understood,  is  this:  the  kindness  of  the 
South  toward  the  North,  though  it  must  do  good, 
never  could  do  for  the  kingdom  in  this  country  and 
the  world,  what  must  instantly  follow  the  kindness 
of  the  North  to  the  South.  In  advancing  the  proof 
of  this  important  position,  namely,  that  almost  all 
good  in  the  premises  depends  upon  the  conduct  of 
the  North,  permit  me  to  say: 

1.  That  a  kind  heart  cherished  by  the  North  to- 
ward the  South  will  measurably  secure  to  America, 
Africa,  and  the  world,  all  the  glorious  blessings  pro- 
mised to  that  course  of  duty  which  was  providen- 
tially imposed  by  the  introduction  of  slaves. 

We  have  seen  that  the  South  are  doing  something 
to  free  their  slaves,  and  more  to  Christianize  them 


REMEDIAL   SUGGESTIONS.  285 

We  have  seen  too,  that  the  class  of  men  at  the  North 
whom  I  address,  have  set  themselves  against  every 
Southern  movement  on  the  subject.  They  seem  to 
say  practically,  we  will  even  withhold  the  Gospel 
from  you,  if  you  come  not  to  our  views.  Thus  they 
throw  the  nation  into  conflict  on  the  one  hand,  and 
embarrass  the  Church  in  her  obedience  to  God  on  the 
other.  Oh!  if  all  our  Northern  fellow-men  could 
only  be  persuaded  to  exercise  a  little  patience  on  this 
subject;  could  only  be  induced  to  bear  with  the  short- 
comings of  their  neighbors  as  God  bears  with  theirs ; 
could  but  be  influenced  to  unite  heartily  with  South- 
ern brethren  in  doing  all  for  the  slaves  which  the 
present  condition  of  society  will  allow — what  then  ? 
Why,  then,  the  whole  nation  would  place  itself,  mea- 
surably at  least,  in  the  attitude  of  obedience  to  God's 
great  providential  mandate.  Mark,  now,  the  natu- 
ral result :  all  the  prominent  blessings  of  God's  great 
missionary  movement  are  earned,  the  nation's  perils 
averted,  the  nation's  duties  met,  the  necessary  influ- 
ence secured. 

Observe,  more  particularly — 

2.  That  a  kind  heart  cherished  by  the  North  to- 
ward the  South  is  the  only  safeguard  against  great 
national  peril, 

In  marking  the  course  of  this  North  and  South 
controversy,  you  have  not  failed  to  observe,  that 
precisely  what  the  Northern  mind  wants,  dwells  only 
in  the  Southern  mind;  and  precisely  what  the  South- 
ern mind  wants,  is  to  be  found  only  in  the  Northern 


236  MODERN  REFORM. 

mind.  Put  into  the  Northern  mind  two  truths  which, 
the  Southern  man  does  most  clearly  know  from  his  own 
observation  and  experience,  namely,  the  utter  imprac- 
ticability of  any  such  thing  (in  general)  as  a  judi- 
cious dissolution  of  the  relation  of  master  and  ser- 
vant instanter ;  and  again,  that  degree  of  benevolence 
which  he  himself  truly  feels  and  daily  tries  to  ex- 
hibit toward  his  servants — and  the  Northern  mind 
will  be  brought  instantly  to  some  greater  toleration 
of  the  Southern  man.  Put  into  the  Southern  mind 
two  facts  of  which  the  Northern  man  is  perfectly 
conscious,  namely,  that  in  his  (Northern)  mind,  be- 
low his  violent  denunciation  of  the  master,  there  are 
many  lines  of  generous  sympathy  with  the  man  of 
color, — and  beside  that  ignorance  of  the  slave's  unfit- 
ness  for  a  present  change  of  condition,  there  dwells  a 
clear  discovery  of  many  incongruities  of  slavery  with 
a  perfect  state  of  human  society,  by  no  means  so 
clearly  seen  by  the  Southern  man — and  the  Southern 
man  must  feel  that  more  allowance  should  be  made 
for  the  vehement  oppositions  of  his  Northern  neigh- 
bor. How  singular  is  the  work  of  providence !  Here 
are  two  sections  of  a  great  nation  in  a  hostile  attitude. 
"What  shall  prevent  their  shameful,  perilous  collision  ? 
Mark !  God  has  intrusted  to  the  South  what  should 
restrain  the  North,  and  to  the  North  what  should  re- 
strain the  South :  while  the  elements  of  self-restraint, 
evil  feelings  have  largely  shut  out  of  the  minds  of  both. 
What  a  call  to  union !  Disobey  this  call  I  aggravate 
this  controversy :  mark  the  issue  1  You  throw  the 


REMEDIAL  SUGGESTIONS.  237 

South  back  upon  herself,  and  not  only  cut  her  off 
from  all  the  valuable  enlightenment  which  she  might 
have  received  from  kind  association  with  the  North, 
but  you  place  her  in  an  attitude  to  misunderstand  the 
North  and  be  provoked  by  all  her  conduct.  You 
throw  the  North  back  upon  herself,  and  in  like  man- 
ner not  only  cut  her  off  from  benefits  which  she 
might  have  derived  from  the  South,  but  you  expose 
her  to  increased  dissatisfaction  with  her  neighbor. 
"What  is  the  result  ?  You  have  pursued  precisely  the 
only  philosophical  process  to  breed  a  national  rup- 
ture. But  give  a  kind  heart  to  the  North  toward 
her  Southern  neighbor,  and  the  parties  will  com- 
mune with  each  other.  They  will  interchange 
thoughts  and  feelings.  They  will  look  deeper  into 
each  other's  minds.  They  will  be  drawn  toward  each 
other.  And  if,  by  the  nature  of  man,  any  thing  can 
avert  the  calamity  of  national  disruption,  this  will. 
But  observe  yet  more  particularly — 

3.  That  a  kind  heart  in  the  North  toward  the 
South  is  the  one  only  way  in  which  the  North  can 
bring  to  the  South  her  great  and  greatly  needed  help 
in  that  great  work  with  our  African  population  which 
God  has  intrusted  so  largely  to  the  hands  of  tho 
South. 

Permit  me  to  attempt  a  yet  more  particular  analy- 
sis and  comparison  of  Northern  and  Southern  mind 
upon  the  subject  of  slavery.  There  is,  on  this  sub- 
ject, a  right  and  a  wrong  mind  at  the  North,  and  a 
right  aai  a  wrong  mind  at  ths  South.  These  grow 


288  MODERN  REFORM. 

naturally  out  of  the  relation  of  the  parties  to  the 
institution.  The  Southern  man  stands  in  a  two-fold 
connection  with  slavery.  The  first  is  that  of  practical 
acquaintance.  He  handles  slavery  every  day  intimate- 
ly. While  he  has,  as  we  have  said,  a  perfect  know- 
ledge of  the  slave's  unfitness  for  present  freedom,  and 
best  understands  how  to  address  him,  he  handles  no 
other  species  of  labor,  and  therefore,  the  moral,  eco- 
nomical, and  miscellaneous  disadvantages  of  slavery, 
he  does  not  so  perfectly  comprehend.  The  second  is 
a  pecuniary  relation  to  slavery.  The  natural  tendency 
of  such  a  connection  must  be  to  blind  the  mind  and 
blunt  the  conscience,  and  thus  measurably  obstruct 
the  clear  sight  and  sense  of  high  Christian  duty  to  a 
fellow-man.  The  Northern  man  sustains  also  two 
relations  to  this  institution,  and  these  the  precise  op- 
posites  of  those  of  the  Southern  man.  He  is  person- 
ally disconnected  with  slavery ;  consequently  he  can 
not  know  the  slave  as  well  as  the  master  does,  his 
capacities,  inabilities,  and  temptations;  and  may, 
therefore,  very  naturally  mistake  as  to  the  proper 
course  which  an  enlightened  conscience  would  pur- 
sue in  the  treatment  of  the  slave.  On  the  other 
hand,  the  Northern  man  has  no  pecuniary  interest  in 
the  slave,  and  is,  therefore,  free  from  all  bias  upon 
his  judgment  or  his  conscience  as  to  what  a  good 
man  should  be  willing  to  do  for  a  fellow-man  in  such 
a  relation.  On  the  whole,  while  the  Southern  man, 
from  his  intimate  connection  with  his  slave,  has  his 
Hjreat  advantages  over  the  Northern  man,  the  North- 


• 


REMEDIAL   SUGGESTIONS.  239 

era  man  may  be  supposed  in  general  to  possess  two 
advantages  over  the  Southern  man.  By  his  personal 
separation  from  the  institution,  a  stronger  conscience 
as  to  a  man's  duty  to  his  slave ;  by  his  perfect  acquaint- 
ance with  free  labor,  a  superior  knowledge  of  the 
comparative  economy,  morality,  comfort,  etc.,  of  these 
opposite  methods  of  accomplishing  the  manual  work 
of  society. 

He  who  examines  Southern  society  closely,  I  am, 
persuaded,  will  learn  two  things — that  the  mind  which 
comes  nearest  to  Christian  perfection  on  the  subject 
of  slavery,  in  knowledge,  sympathy,  and  agency,  is 
to  be  found  at  the  South ;  and  that  all  the  properties 
of  sound  Christian  morality  on  this  subject  are  scat- 
tered through  Southern  society.  Indeed,  I  see  no 
injustice  in  the  statement  that  the  mind  of  the  South 
is  on  the  way  toward  Christian  perfection  on  this  sub- 
ject. It  certainly  has  these  two  all-embracing  ele- 
ments :  partial  knowledge  of  the  evils  of  slavery ; 
incipient  conscience  of  the  obligations  of  the  master. 
It  wants  two  auxiliary  applications — the  one  to  in- 
crease its  knowledge  of  the  evils  of  the  institution, 
the  other  to  strengthen  its  conscience  to  discharge  its 
duties.  Now,  the  intellect  of  the  North !  It  has  no 
material  interest  to  prejudice  its  action,  and  abstract- 
ly has  a  clearer  view  of  many  of  the  relations  of  this 
subject  than  the  Southern  man  possesses.  The  North- 
ern mind,  therefore,  is  exactly  fitted  to  supply  one 
of  the  elements  needed  at  the  South.  The  conscience 
of  the  North !  This,  too,  is  free  from  the  enfeebling 


240  MODERN  EEFOKM. 

influence  of  a  proprietary  interest  in  slavery,  and 
therefore  has  less  to  prevent  its  prompting  rightly 
and  strongly  on  the  subject.  The  Northern  mind, 
therefore,  is  exactly  fitted  to  supply  the  second  ele- 
ment needed  by  his  Southern  neighbor.  The  mistake 
of  the  North,  how  palpable !  how  provoking !  By 
its  uncharitable  violence  it  destroys  all  sympathy  and 
intercourse  between  the  opposite  sections  of  the 
country,  and  thus  excludes  from  each  that  needed 
good  which  it  could  only  derive  from  the  other. 
The  duty  of  the  North !  how  obvious !  Cherish  a 
kind  side  toward  the  /South.  Believe  all  things,  hope 
all  things,  endure  all  things.  Feel  for  the  high  re- 
sponsibilities of  your  Southern  neighbor,  and  place 
your  shoulder  under  his  burden.  Envy  his  exalted 
opportunity  of  serving  God,  man,  and  himself,  by 
heroic,  self-denying  virtue  under  great  temptation, 
and  spring  to  his  side  that  you  may  share  his  honors. 
Bear  in  mind,  whatever  be  his  weaknesses,  the  South- 
erner is  a  frank  and  warm-hearted  man.  Nothing  is 
more  sure  than  is  kindness,  to  win  his  confidence. 
He  will  readily  open  all  his  soul  to  you,  and  take  in 
all  yours.  See !  see  what  love  can  do.  You  will  lay 
all  your  advanced  views  directly  in  his  intellect,  and 
help  him  there;  you  will  place  your  solemn  con- 
science directly  by  the  side  of  his,  and  strengthen  him 
there.  Thus  you  have  just  what  that  man  wants, 
but  will  never,  never  get,  until  you  love  him. 

Yes,  you  must  permit  me  to  repeat  the  affirmation, 
— I  can  scarcely  conceive  of  an  event  within  the  easy 


REMEDIAL   SUGGESTIONS.  241 

compass  of  human  power,  which  promises  a  greater 
blessing  to  America,  Africa,  and  the  world,  than  the 
growth  at  the  North  of  a  fraternal  spirit  toward  the 
South.     I  pray  Q-od  to  shed  the  spirit  of  love  upon 
my  country,  both  upon  the  North   and  upon  the 
South.     Surely  mutual  love  will  never  harm  us  I 
Surely  it  is  the  very  element,  and  the  only  one,  that 
can  save  us.     Many  a  great  and  good  man  of  this 
nation  has   seen  this   clearly,    and  left  the   world 
longing   for  it  deeply.      Leonard  Woods  of  Ando- 
ver  ever  breathed  the  spirit  of  a  little  child;  and 
yet  it  was  as  near  to  the  spirit  of  wisdom  and  the 
spirit  of  Jesus  Christ,  as  was  that  of  any  fellow-man 
whom  it  has  been  my  privilege  to  know.     What  a 
beautiful  heart  did  long  beat  in  the  bosom  of  the 
good  old  man,  on  this  very  subject !     How  simple, 
earnest,   opportune,  were  his  thoughts,  words,  and 
feelings,  just  before  he  left  us  for  heaven.     On  the 
23d  of  September,  1853,  in  a  letter  addressed  to  my- 
self, he  employs  this  language:  "I  have  long  been 
sick  at  heart  to  hear  ministers  and  churches  at  the 
South  denounced  and  treated  in  such  a  manner,  as  to 
injure  them  and  injure  their  brethren  at  the  North, 
and  offend  the  God  of  love.     Most  heartily  shall  I 
rejoice  in  any  measures  which  may  be  adopted  to  pro- 
mote the  spiritual  and  temporal  welfare  of  the  South, 
which  is  just  as  worthy  of  regard  as  the  welfare  of  the 
North.     How  much  do  we  need  to  have  our  hearts 
enlarged.     It  is  impossible  to  tell  how  much  the 
Isorth  might  do  to  benefit  the  South,  by  the  feelings 
11 


242  MODERN  REFORM. 

and  the  language  of  love,  by  cordial  sympathy  and  co- 
operation! And  ministers  and  Christians  at  Ate 
North  would  thus  benefit  themselves  as  much  as 
others.  I  wish  we  could  all  understand  what  is  the 
mind  of  Christ,  and  just  what  he  would  say  to  us  if 
he  should  come  as  in  his  former  visit  to  this  world, 
and  should  walk  through  the  North  and  the  South, 
and  tell  us  what  he  would  have  us  to  do,  and  what 
would  be  his  prayer  in  our  behalf.  I  think  we  find 
in  his  Gospel,  and  in  John  17th,  what  his  instruc- 
tions would  be,  and  what  his  prayer.  '  Love  one 
another,'  would  still  be  his  great  and  last  command. 
And  his  prayer  would  still  be,  '  That  all  his  disciples 
may  be  one.1  But  I  need  not  say  this  to  you,  or  to 
those  who  feel  with  you.  It  is  all  in  your  minds 
and  in  your  hearts.  The  Lord  be  with  you  and  your 
brethren,  and  in  his  own  way  do  more  for  the  cause 
of  truth  and  love  than  we  can  ask  or  think." 

The  Lord  answer  the  prayer  of  the  good  old  man 
in  heaven,  for  the  greater  harmony  of  the  North  and 
the  South !  A  man  should  work  for  the  answer  of 
his  prayer.  My  suggestions,  I  repeat,  are  two.  The 
violent  men  of  the  North,  who  have  done  so  much 
harm  by  misjudgment!  let  them  labor  to  form  a 
more  accurate  estimate  of  liberty,  natural  and  spirit- 
ual. These  fellow-men  who  have  it  in  their  power  to 
do  so  much  good  by  benevolence,  let  them  strive  to 
cherish  a  more  patient  and  fraternal  spirit  toward  their 
Southern  brethren. 

If  the  wise  counsel,  the  proper  temper,  upon  this 


BEMEDIAL  SUGGESTIONS.  243 

great  subject,  have  not  been  presented  by  these  pages, 
the  Lord  in  mercy  speedily  bury  this  intruding  vol- 
ume, forgive  one  who  has  lived  to  do  very  little  else 
but  perpetrate  blunders  and  sins,  and  in  his  own  per- 
fect way,  accomplish  that  great  kindness  for  which 
the  nation  and  the  earth  so  deeply  long. 


CHAPTER    IX. 

FRATERNAL     EXHORTATION. 

MY  heart  yearns  for  a  private  interview  with  two 
of  my  neighbors. 

And  first,  my  Anti-Slavery  brother,  permit  me 
to  have  a  word  with  you. 

I  have  dealt  very  plainly  with  you,  perhaps  you 
think  harshly ;  if  so,  I  am  wrong.  God  judge  be- 
tween us  and  forgive  and  reform  the  sinner.  I  would 
come  nearer  to  you.  I  would  tell  you,  as  it  were,  alone, 
all  I  think  and  feel  about  you.  Permit  me,  then,  to 
say  with  perfect  familiarity,  that  in  late  years  I  have 
become  more  thoroughly  dissatisfied,  both  with  your 
principle  and  your  spirit.  I  was  born  at  the  South, 
and  have  spent  most  of  my  life  there.  My  judgment 
may  have  been  too  much  influenced  by  my  circum- 
stances, to  justify  so  bold  an  expression  of  my  senti- 
ments in  this  latitude.  It  is  certainly  true  that  I 
have  had  much  to  do  with  slaves ;  nor  have  I  been 
so  fortunate  as  to  escape  animadversion  upon  my 
treatment  of  them.  I  have  been  more  seriously 


FRATERNAL   EXHORTATION".  245 

troubled,  however,  by  accusations  of  sympathy  with 
your  views.  In  those  days  I  was  no  nearer  to  con; 
viction  of  the  truth  of  your  grand  tenet  of  imme- 
diate emancipation  than  I  am  to-day.  But  this 
thought  separated  me  from  most  of  my  brethren. 
I  could  not  sympathize  with  the  violence  of  their 
denunciation  of  men  of  your  faith.  I  felt  and  said, 
however  indiscreet  the  measure  proposed  for  the 
good  of  the  man  of  color,  I  could  not  but  appreciate 
what  seemed  to  me  the  all-sufficient  evidence  of  a 
magnanimous  sympathy  with  a  fellow-man  who 
needed  human  kindness.  I  could  see  no  possible 
selfish  consideration  for  this  interposition,  and  there- . 
fore  felt  it  my  duty  to  give  to  the  Abolitionist  the 
credit  of  a  generous  heart  and  a  manly  friendship.  I 
have  not  lost  this  conviction  in  regard  to  very  many 
who  hold  your  views.  I  now  confine  it,  however, 
chiefly  to  those  who  dwell  at  a  distance  from  sources 
of  knowledge,  but  are  constantly  reached  by  your 
party  activities.  For  the  last  eight  or  ten  years,  my 
position  has  been  changed.  Formerly  I  was  not 
brought  into  contact  with  the  spirit  and  movements 
of  the  Modern  Reform,  and  knew  but  little  of  the 
character  and  workings  of  the  system.  Of  late  I 
have  been  embosomed  in  the  midst  of  its  operations, 
and  have  added  a  new  idea  to  my  former  stock.  I 
suppose  that  you  probably  commenced  your  con- 
nection with  this  cause  in  that  spirit  of  manly  bene- 
volence which  I  have  commended.  But  I  imagine 
what  was  then  amiable  in  your  temper,  has  since 


246  MODERX 

become  greatly  obscured  by  the  manifold  unamiable 
developments  of  that  epidemic  mania  which  I  doubt 
not  works  strongly  within  you.  I  do  verily  believe 
that  there  is  a  virus  abroad  upon  the  subject  of 
slavery  which  impregnates  the  mind  and  tends  di- 
rectly if  unconsciously  to  corrupt  the  virtue  which 
comes  within  its  range.  My  dear  brother !  Have 
you  never  feared  this  ?  Have  you  never  had  mis- 
givings on  this  subject?  Whether  you  have  or  not, 
will  you  engage  with  me  in  an  honest  investigation 
of  the  precise  state  of  your  own  mind,  so  far  as  it 
stands  affected  by  the  subject  of  slavery  ? 

That  you  are  a  Christian  man  I  have  no  disposi- 
tion to  question,  but  I  invite  your  examination  of 
this  precise  inquiry:  Does  not  all  the  Christianity 
of  your  soul  sternly  affirm,  "  I  will  have  nothing  to 
do  with  your  Abolitionism?"  Understand  me.  That 
you  have  humility,  and  charity,  and  patience,  and 
teachableness,  and  every  Christian  grace,  I  do  not 
doubt ;  but  are  these  things  found  in  connection  with 
jrour  spirit  on  the  subject  of  slavery  ?  On  the  con- 
trary, does  not  your  own  Christianity  keep  clear  of 
your  Abolitionism  ?  This  is  our  point.  Permit  me 
then  to  press  the  following  inquiries. 

On  this  subject — the  subject  of  slavery — do  you 
find  any  humility  in  your  spirit?  Do  you  ever 
doubt  yourself  in  this  matter?  Do  you  ever  fear 
that  you  may  be  wrong?  Do  you  know  such  a 
state  of  mind  as  this:  "After  all,  my  brother's 
view  may  be  right !  My  sentiments  may  be  wrong. 


FRATERNAL   EXHORTATION.  247 

As  lie  says,  I  may  be  harming  every  good  thing 
in  connection  with  this  subject.  I  am  certainly 
a  fallible  creature,  and  it  behooves  me  to  cherish 
these  thoughts."  On  the  contrary,  is  not  this  your 
unvarying  temper?  "I  know  that  I  am  right.  I 
know  that  every  slaveholder  is  wrong."  On  this 
subject,  is  there  any  charity  in  your  spirit?  Can 
you  suffer  long  and  be  kind  ?  In  sympathy  with, 
the  slaveholder,  do  you  find  it  easy  to  believe, 
hope,  endure  all  things?  Have  you  ever  felt  any 
thing  like  a  sweet  and  cheerful  patience  toward  them 
that  differ  with  you  concerning  the  qualities  and 
bearings  of  the  institution  of  slavery  ?  Any  thing 
like  that  tender  respect  and  deference  toward  these 
persons,  which  you  would  be  sure  to  feel  if  your 
diversity  of  sentiment  respected  any  other  topic? 
On  the  contrary,  have  you  not  marked  in  your  own 
spirit  such  an  uniformly  hard,  censorious,  and  un- 
compromising temper  as  sometimes  surprises  you 
into  the  soliloquy :  "  Why,  on  the  subject  of  slavery 
I  scarcely  know  myself." — On  this  subject  have  you 
any  teachableness  in  your  spirit  ?  Do  you  ever  yield 
to  opposing  argument  ?  Has  your  tongue  ever  said, 
or  your  heart  ever  felt :  "  Truly,  my  neighbor,  that 
view  of  yours  looks  reasonable.  Give  me  a  moment 
to  think  of  it."  My  Christian  brother  I  Do  you 
know  what  it  is  in  very  truth  to  struggle  with  God 
for  light  on  this  subject  ?  Do  you  ever  subject  the 
very  sentiments  you  hold,  to  his  inspection,  and  feel- 
ing that  you  know  nothing,  do  you  anxiously  inquire 


248  MODERN   REFORM. 

of  him  whether  they  are  indeed*  so  unquestionably 
and  importantly  true,  that  you  may,  as  it  were,  sword 
in  hand,  cut  your  way  for  them  through  the  world  ? 
On  the  contrary,  have  you  not  at  times  been  more 
than  a  little  startled  at  the  impracticable  self-reliance, 
intolerance,  and  recklessness  which  always  mark 
the  workings  of  your  spirit  on  this  subject?  Have 
you 'any  reasonableness  in  your  spirit  on  the  subject 
of  slavery  ?  What  say.your  judgments  ?  You  hold  a 
sentiment  touching  the  stupendous  elevation  of  natur- 
al liberty,  which  in  practice  degrades  spiritual 
liberty  in  the  same  proportion.  You  hold  a  senti- 
ment concerning  the  rights  of  man  which  in  practice 
works  out  the  precise  process  to  breed  an  insurrec- 
tion and  shoot  down  his  life.  You  hold  a  sentiment 
concerning  national  glory  which  in  practice  must 
philosophically  rupture  the  Union  and  destroy  socie- 
ty. You  hold  a  sentiment  concerning  true  religion 
which  in  practice  profanes  the  pulpit  arid  abolishes 
the  Bible.  You  hold  a  sentiment  concerning  love  to 
your  neighbor  which  in  practice  is  an  exact  war  of 
extermination.  What  say  your  feelings ?  You  are' 
the  friend  of  the  slave  1  But  is  it  not  a  fact  that  the 
morning  paragraph  concerning  the  Southern  master's 
cruel  blow  upon  the  body  of  his  servant,  did  more  to 
rouse  your  indignation  against  all  the  South,  than 
did  the  announcement  of  the  hopeful  conversion  of 
400,000  souls  to  thrill  you  with  gratitude  to  God 
for  the  salvation  of  the  man  of  color?  What  say 
your  prayers  ?  Do  they  not  anxiously  beseech  the 


FRATERNAL  EXHORTATION.  249 

slave's  deliverance  from  those  troubles  about  which 
God  tells  him  not  to  trouble  himself;  while  your 
heart  —  be  your  language  what  it  may  —  is  scarce 
ever  conscious  of  a  sincere  yearning  that  the  slave 
might  come  to  possess  that  spiritual  freedom  which 
God  says  is  his  all  in  all  !  What  say  your  actions  ? 
You  well  remember  the  day  when  you  sent  a  pecu- 
niary contribution,  perhaps  a  rifle,  certainly  a  strong 
heart,  to  defend  liberty  against  Kumanism  in  Kansas  ; 
but  is  it  not  a  truth  that  to  save  the  perishing  souls 
of  the  millions  of  the  slaves  of  the  South,  you  never 
yet  contributed  as  many  dollars,  performed  as  many 
acts,  or  uttered  as  many  words  ;  or  at  least  would  you 
not  be  ashamed  to  lay  the  very  little  you  have  felt, 
said,  and  done  for  the  eternal  salvation  of  the  slave, 
by  the  side  of  all  you  have  felt,  said,  and  done  to 
break  the  master's  transient  hold  upon  his  service  ? 
How  clear  it  is,  my  friend,  that  your  mind  is  out  of 
order  on  this  point  !  It  does  not  work  reasonably. 
It  does  not  weigh  truth  duly.  It  does  not  appreciate 
things  according  to  their  importance.  Permit  one 
more  inquiry  on  this  subject.  Is  there  any  self-con- 
trol in  your  spirit  ?  Do  you  not  feel  that  your  pas- 
sions rise  quicker  and  higher  on  this  topic  than  on 
any  other?  Have  you  not  just  on  this  point  less 
calm  self-approbation,  less  desirable  self-control,  than 
you  readily  command  on  any  other  conceivable  sub- 
ject? O  my  brother!'  Does  not  God  know  that 
you  have  had  many  secret  admonitions  from  heaven 
on  account  of  the  actings  of  your  soul  on  the  subject 


250  MODERN  REFORM. 

of  slavery  ?  Not  that  you  have  been  much  distressed 
by  these  compunctions ;  certainly  not  that  you  ever 
spake  to  man  of  them !  But  is  not  this  the  truth  be- 
fore Grod,  that  you  have  been  compelled,  all  your  life 
long,  to  make  little  apologies  to  conscience  for  the 
rude,  contradicting,  violent,  unchristian  outbreaks  of 
your  temper  im  conference  with  your  fellow-men  on 
this  maddening  subject  ? 

What  do  you  learn,  my  brother,  by  this  self-inspec- 
tion ?  Does  not  a  close  investigation  of  the  state  of  your 
soul  assure  you  that  even  your  own  Christianity  will 
not  keep  company  with  such  a  mind  as  you  have  on 
the  subject  of  slavery  ?  How  then  can  you  expect 
other  men  to  tolerate  you?  My  dear  brother!  I 
hold  you  to  the  teachings  of  our  investigation.  The 
argument  is  irresistible.  Know  this:  The  Spirit  of 
Holiness  and  the  Spirit  of  Truth  are  one  and  the 
same  Spirit.  They  always  go  together.  Now  if  you 
have  found  that  the  humilities,  and  the  charities,  and 
the  candor,  and -the  judgment,  and  the  self-possession 
of  Christianity  do  not  dwell  round  about  this  subject 
of  slavery  in  your  heart,  then  you  have  expelled  the 
Spirit  of  Holiness  from  your  heart  just  there.  And 
depend  upon  it,  the  Spirit  of  Truth  has  not  remained 
behind.  Depend  upon  it,  you  have  driven  out  the- 
Spirit  of  Truth  too;  and  you  are  in  error!  Yes, 
my  friend.  Just  on  that  point,  rest  assured  of  it,  you 
are  IN  ERROR.  Your  doctrine  is  as  untrue  as  your 
temper  is  unholy. 

Come,  my  friend  I     For  a  long  time  you  have  been 


FRATERNAL  EXHORTATION.        251 

bearing  violent  public  witness  against  all  the  good 
men  who  entertain  more  moderate  sentiments  than 
yourself.  Place  your  hand  in  mine  and  let  us  go  to 
God.  Here  alone,  before  our  common  Maker, 
Saviour,  Master,  as  your  fellow-servant  in  Jesus 
Christ,  I  bear  solemn  testimony  to  you  of  my  con- 
viction, that  you  are  wrong  in  spirit  and  wrong  in 
principle :  That  you  stand  in  the  way  of  the  natural 
rights  and  the  Christian  hopes  of  the  slave :  That 
you  stand  in  the  way  of  the  political  union  and 
moral  power  of  ouj  country :  That  you  stand  in  the 
way  of  the  sacredness  of  God's  pulpit  and  the  author- 
ity of  God's  word :  That  you  stanci  in  the  way  of 
God's  great  missionary  providence,  and  the  conver- 
sion of  the  world.  \ 

The  heart  is  deceitful  above  all  things ;  who  can 

know  it  ?     I  trust  I  would  not  wrong  you.     Surely 

*  I  ought  to  love  you,  my  fellow-man.     Will  you*  take 

a  little  advice  from  me  ?     Daily  for  the  space  of  a 

mont^i,  enter  thy  closet.     Bend^tlry^hnee.     Utter  not 

a  word  of  prayer.     Mean  to  meet  God.     Tarry  in 

his  presence,  seeking,  expecting  light  from  him  alone. 

Let  whatever  thought  enter  thy  mind  that  will. 

Only  be  a  Ji&le«  child,  and  long  for  truth,  the  very 

•^•btruth  of  God,  be  it  what  it  may.     Peradventure, 

•«*— 43-od.  'VillNiiave  kiercy  jiipou  fcjjee — ai\d  i|"Awe,J;hy 

brethren,  have  indeed  received  his  guidance — lead 

jtheoHoo  into  our  more  exceUent  waj£.     'v   ^.          ^ 

N.     O  my  de>r  ^pther !  how  happy  should  we  be  to 

•*  *  'Leave  you  by-ftur*9ig*t  in  tJ^iB^greAt  field.     While  wo 

4  ^ 

***  t       ,  T  \a*        •,     >.        ->,.,V 


252  MODERN   REFORM. 

admired  the  vehemence  and  vigor  of  your  coopera- 
tion, how  inexpressibly  grateful  would  .be  our  expe- 
rience that  you  could  now  talk  and  work  with  us  and 
our  Southern  brethren,  and  exhibit  the  very  same 
kindness  and  patience  which  always  adorn  your 
spirit  on  every  other  subject.  May  the  Spirit  of 
Truth  and  Holiness  teach  and  unite  us. 

My  Christian  brother  I  whose  Anti- Slavery  sentiment 
is  advancing  toward  the  extreme  views  we  have  discussed  • 
permit  me  in  Christian  frankness  to  tender  you  three 
points  of  fraternal  counsel.  I  entreat  you  consider : 

1.  The  peril  of  your  position.  You  are  pressed  by 
a  strong  power  ftbm  the  North,  and  have  no  adequate 
brace  against  the  pressure. 

Anti-Slavery  strength  finds  its  basis  in  two  proper- 
ties, vehemence  of  emotion  and  vigor  of  action. 
The  strongest  impulses  of  the  human  soul  heave  on 
this  enterprise.  Indignation  in  view  of  what  is 
deemed  oppressed  humanity,  condemnation  of  what 
is  considered  jpjpked  principle,  fierce  purpose  to 
carry  a  point,  all  a  little  maddened  because  fed  by  a 
vision  of  greater  ills  than  exist.  These  energized 
emotions  speak  powerfully  to  conscience,  to  shame, 
to  fear,  to  irresolution,  and  to  the  love  ofjpeace.  The 
stern  look,  the  flashing  eye,  the  condemnatory  tone,, 
the.  dogged  intent  of  a  Christian  man,  all  pressing 
the  vindication  of  crushed  Jiberty,  and  this,  as  with 
afs\vord  drawn  under  the  high  banner,  "InstSfft  "and 
perfect  submission  or  no  quarter,"  make  a  tolerably' 
formidable  array.  Remember,^  tpo,*  that  these  cle- 


FRATERNAL   EXHORTATION.  253 

ments  act  as  constantly  as  they  do  vehemently. 
They  never  fail  to  speak  or  act  when  speech  or  action 
is  called  for.  They  never  fail  to  work  when  the 
slightest  door  is  opened  for  their  agency.  Nay,  they 
often  break  through  proprieties, to  wave  their  banner 
and  press  their  cause. 

What  a  prodigious  energy  have  we  here  I  The 
feeblest  cause  is  powerful  if  perpetual;  far  more  pow-* 
erful  than  any  single  action  of  the  strongest  element. 
The  fiercest  bolt  of  lightning  that  ever  fell  from  hea- 
ven scarce  ever  did  more  than  crush  an  oak.  The 
little  axe  in  perpetual  motion  shall  cut  down  the 
world.  Annex  the  power  of  perpetuity  to  the  action 
of  a  powerful  cause,  and  what  a  power  you  secure. 
Repeat  the  shock  of  heaven's  bolt  as  regularly  as  the 
blows  of  the  axe  that  clears  the  world,  and  what  a 
crushing  work  you  make.  Such  is  the  nature  of  the 
power  of  this  Reform  enterprise.  It  is  a  strong  cause, 
ever  acting  strongly.  And  such,  remember,  is  the 
agent  that  works  upon  you. 

Where  now  is  your  protection  against  this  power  ? 
In  self-defense  you  work  to  great  disadvantage,  both 
in  the  nature  and  in  the  circumstances  of  the  case. 
In  the  twinkling  of  an  eye  the  entire  blow  of  the 
Reformer  is  upon  you.  Only  let  him  utter  his 
watchword,  "  Slavery,"  and  the  work  is  done.  The 
great  right  of  liberty,  the  great  wrong  of  its  op- 
pression, and  the  shriek  of  the  soul  for  justice,  are 
all  instantaneous.  Now  it  is  not  so  with  you.  You 
can  not  avert  or  beat  back  this  blow  with  a  word. 


- 


254  MODERN  REFORM. 

You  can  not  state  your  defense  in  a  sentence.  You 
must  bear  the  blow  and  suffer  on,  advancing  one  idea 
and  then  another,  and  then  a  third,  before  you  reach 
the  thought  that  rallies  your  soul  against  the  assail- 
ant. The  power  of  the  Reformer,  you  perceive,  is 
vastly  more  available  than  yours;  and  far  better 
m  adapted  to  the  kind  of  combat  which  he  naturally 
gets  up.  Ordinarily  this  is  not  cool  investigation  in 
search  of  truth,  but  a  furious  onset  to  put  down  a 
foe.  This,  you  know,  nature  expects  you  to  repel  at 
once. 

Circumstances,  too,  are  equally  against  you.  Sur- 
vey the  relative  position  of  yourself  and  your  anta- 
gonist. You  are  the  defendant,  he  the  assailant. 
Nothing  prompts  you  to  wield  your  weapons  upon 
him,  nothing  can  keep  him  from  employing  his  sword 
upon  you.  Your  mind  is  feeble  in  this  conflict,  be- 
cause indifferent  here  and  occupied  with  other  things ; 
his,  always  meets  you  in  its  strength,  because  im- 
powered  both  by  decision  and  emotion.  Your  mind  is 
not  well  supplied  with  truth,  and  has  no  established 
channel  of  supply ;  his,  has  laid  out  all  its  strength  in 
acquiring  armor  for  his  work,  and  keeps  itself  ever 
active  in  the  acquisition.  You  begin  the  conflict 
under  the  disadvantage  of  seeming  to  contend  for  the 
worst  of  causes ;  he,  on  the  contrary,  for  the  best. 
You  set  out  with  a  long  catalogue  of  admissions-the 
actual  existence  of  slavery  at  the  South ;  the  natural 
wrong  of  slavery ;  objectionable  elements  in  the  sys- 
tem of  slavery  ;  cruel  acts  perpetrated  in  the ••  practice 


FRATERNAL   EXHORTATION.  266 

of  slavery ;  the  duty  of  seeking  the  removal  of 
slavery.  He,  on  the  contrary,  strikes  his  first  blow 
in  the  consciousness  that  the  battle  is  half  won  alrea- 
dy ;  for  press  hirn  as  you  may,  he  falls  back  at  will, 
and  finds  ready  shelter  under  any  one  of  your  re- 
corded admissions.  Controversy  on  your  part  is 
always  reluctantly  commenced  and  painfully  prose- 
cuted, because  you  know  he  will  import  a  spirit  as 
unwelcome  to  your  quiet  taste  as  it  is  unpromising  to 
your  hope  of  good.  But  controversy  is  his  very  life. 
He  ever  feels  that  he  can  dp  God  and  man  no  better 
service  than  to  overthrow  all  who  oppose  his  glorious 
cause  of  "  liberty."  How  feeble  is  your  hold  upon 
your  arms  I  The  utter  unfitness  of  the  slave  for 
present  liberty — of  this  you  have  no  personal  know- 
ledge. The  constantly  improving  condition  of  the 
slave — this  is  not  before  your  eyes.  The  commend- 
atory deeds  of  the  master— with  these  you  are  not 
familiar.  The  word  of  God  I  You  almost  fear  to 
touch  it,  lest  he  fling  the  scornful  charge  into  your 
face :  "  You  prostitute  Scripture  to  uphold  slavery." 
But  while  you  handle  your  own  weapons  so  feebly, 
'  how  pungently  he  makes  you  feel  the  force  of  his  I 
That  serious  countenance,  those  stirring  tones,  that 
vehement  testimony  against  oppression,  those  re- 
hearsals of  blood-stirring  cruelties  to  the  innocent  and 
the  helpless !  Oh  1  your  disadvantages  in  the  conflict. 
And  what  inducements  to  submission  !  Throw  down 
your  arms  to  the  Anti-Slavery  banner,  and  you 
escape  from  the  most  grievous  disgrace  upon  the  face 


256  MODERN   REFORM. 

of  the  earth,  "  Pro- Slavery  /  /  "  Ground  your  arms ! 
and  you  escape  that  war  to  the  knife  with  the  Abo- 
litionist, which,  otherwise,  nothing  but  death  itself  can 
conclude.  Think  how  powerful  the  pressure  on  the 
one  hand,  how  feeble  the  resistance  on  the  other,  and 
tell  me,  my  brother,  are  you  not  in  peril  of  falling 
under  this  adverse  influence  ? 

Nay  1  Are  you  not  more  than  half  subdued  this 
very  moment  ?  Analyze  the  exact  condition  of  your 
mind.  Your  intellect  sees  clearly,  and  can  demon- 
strate perfectly,  both  from  Scripture  and  reason,  that 
there  is  no  necessary  sin  in  the  holding  of  a  slave ; 
but  is  either  your  heart,  conscience,  or  agency,  under 
the  influence  of  your  judgment?  Those  most  earn- 
est outcries  against  the  awful  sin  of  slavery — against 
the  heart-rending  cruelties  of  slavery/  You  have 
heard  them  for  so  long  a  time,  from  such  influential 
sources,  and  with  such  a  feeble  capacity  of  effective 
resistance,  that  they  have  actually  built  up  in  your 
soul  a  species  of  superstition.  Where  your  judgment 
sees  with  perfect  clearness  that  there  is  no  sin,  just 
there  your  heart  and  conscience  forebode  fearful  sin  1 
If  this  is  not  superstition,  it  is  worse.  The  fact  is, " 
though  you  know  it  not,  your  strict  mental  rectitude 
on  this  subject  is  a  little  disturbed.  You  often  ex- 
hibit a  singular  intellectual  phenomenon.  Through 
a  steady  process  your  mind  slides  down  into  extreme 
Anti-Slavery  views,  while,  to  the  amusement  of  your 
brethren,  you  are  all  the  way  indignantly  repudiating 
the  very  slightest  sympathy  with  sentiments  so  ab- 


FRATERNAL  EXHORTATION.  257 

surd.  Hy  brother,  the  calm  spectator  sees  clearly 
what  you  do  not  realize.  He  sees  the  Eeform  power 
actually  radiating  increasing  degrees  of  epidemic 
influence  into  your  very  soul,  through  your  unpro- 
tected sympathy  with  its  reiterated,  its  indignant 
protests  against  the  crimes  and  cruelties  of  slavery. 
Yes,  my  brother,  study  the  peril  0f  your  position ! 

2.  Consider  the  character  of  your  agency.  Is  it  not 
unjustifiable  and  injurious? 

It  is  scarcely  possible  that  such  a  mind  should  act 
right.  It  does  not  move  by  its  own  light.  It  does 
not  work  by  its  own  reason.  It  is  measurably  spell- 
bound, and  must  yield  unreasonably  to  the  malign 
influence  that  acts  upon  it.  My  brother !  condemn 
the  nature  of  slavery — slavery  in  the  abstract — and 
God  helping,  neither  you  nor  the  strongest  Reformer 
on  earth  shall  condemn  it  more  promptly  or  sin- 
cerely than  I  will.  Condemn  the  cruelties  of  the 
master  to  the  slave.  You  are-  a  bad  man  and  no 
Christian  if  you  do  not.  But,  my  brother,  you 
must  not  stop  there.  YQU  must  not  be  one-sided  in 
your  condemnation.  You  must  act  out  a  fair,  a  just 
mind.  Therefore,  you  must  as  decidedly  condemn 
the  extravagances  of  those  fellow-men  who  have 
gone  beyond  all  Scripture  and  reason,  all  the  good 
of  the  Church  and  the  world,  in  carrying  out  their 
philanthropy.  If  they  have  started  a  Reform  move- 
ment in  the  earth,  which,  examined,  must  be  pro- 
nounced arrogant,  and  malignant,  and  belligerent, 
and  headstrong,  is  not  this  wrong  ?  If  in  its  execu- 


258  MODERN  REFORM. 

tion  they  are  hurting  the  country,  and  the  slave,  and 
the  master,  and  religion,  and  the  power  of  helping  all 
the  great  and  good  interests  of  the  earth,  is  not  this 
wrong  ?  Do  we  right,  then,  if  we  do  not  decidedly 
condemn  it?  But  do  we  condemn  it,  as  by  our  judg- 
ment we  should  do  ?  Do  any  of  us  testify  against 
their  wrong  management  of  slavery  as  intrepidly 
as  they  make  us  testify  against  the  wrong  elements 
of  slavery  ?  It  is  very  natural  and  very  certain  that 
•we  are  a  little  overawed  and  unfaithful  in  the  pre- 
mises. Nay !  Instead  of  bearing  a  decided  and  dis- 
couraging testimony  on  all  proper  occasions, — to  a 
guilty  extent,  in  many  "ways,  by  omission  and  by 
commission,  we  fall  in  with  them  and  decidedly  en- 
courage their  intrepidity  and  enforce  their  mischiev- 
ous power  over  men.  I  speak  it  cheerfully,  no 
man  can  be  too  kind  to  any  Reform  brother  on  earth ; 
but  I  speak  it  seriously,  in  this  day  when  God  is  lay- 
ing before  us  such  developments  of  their  spirit  and 
their  work,  and  they  are  yet  exhibiting  such  marks 
of  power,  no  man  can  be  too  firm  in  his  purpose  and 
effort  to  make  the  Reformer  feel  that,  in  his  furious 
philanthropy,  he  is  sinning — sinning  against  God  and 
man.  I  believe  we  often  offend  by  failing  to  speak 
such  words,  to  take  such  stands,  to  do  such  things,  as 
are  directly  intended  to  disapprove,  discourage,  and 
defeat.  In  my  opinion,  we  as  often  offend  by  being 
led  to  take  so  abundant  a  part  with  them  in  their 
published  sentiments  and  practical  measures.  I  have 
no  doubt,  that  for  many  years  the  conservative  ele- 


FRATERNAL   EXHORTATION.  269 

ment  has  inordinately  encouraged  and  invigorated 
this  enterprise  in  the  Church  and  country  by 
cooperation  in  their  agitating  S}7stem  of  discussion, 
resolution,  and  testimony.  Their  whole  operation, 
however  benevolent  its  ultimate  ends,  is  too  unchrist- 
ian in  spirit,  principle,  and  influence,  to  justify  such 
a  fellowship  on  our  part. 

Besides,  it  has  operated  to  inflict  a  positive  injust- 
ice to  our  Southern  brethren.  "  The  welfare  of  the 
South,"  says  Dr.  Woods,  "  is  just  as  worthy  of  regard 
as  the  welfare  of  the  North."  Our  ecclesiastical 
course  has  heretofore  embarked  too  little  sympathy 
with  the  welfare  of  the  South.  There  is  another 
principle  just  as  clear.  The  man  of  the  South  has 
his  rig'hts,  as  well  as  the  man  of  the  North.  I  hold 
it  one  right  of  every  man  upon  earth,  North  or  South, 
that  he  is  just  as  much  to  be  approved  for  his  good  acts, 
as  he  is  to  be  blamed  for  his  bad  ones.  Call  up  dis- 
tinctly this  self-evident  truth,  and  settle  your  convic- 
tion of  it.  It  will  go  far  to  settle  our  judgment  on 
this  whole  point.  I  affirm  that  by  the  constitution 
of  man,  the  good  of  society,  and  the  word  of  God,  we 
are  precisely  under  the  same  obligation  to  bear  a  fa- 
vorable testimony  in  view  of  the  good  a  man  does,  as  we 
are  to  bear  a  condemnatory  witness  of  the  evil  he  perpe- 
trates. You  say  that  the  nature  of  slavery  is  wrong  I 
Grant  it.  That  there  are  wrong  things  in  the  system 
of  Southern  slavery  !  Grant  it.  That  many  cruel- 
ties have  been  perpetrated  by  the  slaveholder !  Grant 
it.  That  you  have  a  right  to  bear  testimony  against 


280  MODERN  REFORM.  * 

such  things !  Grant  it.  Straightforward  for  thirty- 
years,  with  little  intermission,  our  Assemblies,  Synods, 
Presbyteries  all  over  the  North  have  been  bearing 
such  adverse  testimony,  solemnly,  earnestly,  vehe- 
mently. I  call  you  now  to  witness  that  there  are 
good  things  at  the  South  as  well  as  bad  ones.  South- 
ern men  have  paid  down  a  very  great  sum  of  money 
toward  the  freeing  of  their  slaves.  I  say,  this  is  a 
good  thing.  Under  God,  they  have  converted  hun- 
dreds of  thousands  of  their  souls,  and  sent  them  to 
heaven.  I  say,  this  is  a  good  thing.  They  have 
been  lifting  up  the  great  mass  steadily  toward  all 
temporal  and  all  spiritual  good,  from  the  day  that 
your  fathers  landed  them  on  Southern  shores.  I  say, 
this  is  a  good  thing.  They  are  doing  more  for  them 
this  day  than  they  have  ever  done  before.  I  say, 
this  is  a  good  thing.  Some  scanty  allusion  to  all 
this  may,  peradventure,  be  found  in  the  bosom  of 
condemnatory  testimony :  But  say,  brethren,  has 
our  General  Assembly  on  any  one  occasion  come  out 
before  the  Church  and  the  world,  and  borne  promi- 
nent witness  to  their  high  and  encouraging  approba- 
tion of  these  noble  doings  of  Southern  men  ?  Since 
they  felt  themselves  bound  for  so  many  years  to  con- 
demn so  many  things  in  connection  with  Southern 
society,  have  our  Northern  Synods  and  Presbyteries 
been  accustomed  to  delight  themselves  in  holding  up 
before  all  men  the  generous,  useful,  Christian  deeds  of 
their  Southern  brethren?  No,  my  brother,  no  I 
From  year  to  year,  in  spite  of  all  their  remonstrances, 


.      FRATERNAL   EXHORTATION.  261 

we  have  held  up  all  that  we  could  find  to  blame  in 
their  condition  and  their  conduct ;  to  their  suffering, 
shame,  ay !  and'  the  deep  damage  of  their  Christian 
influence,  we  have  held  up  our  condemnatory  testi- 
mony before  the  whole  world,  while  their  noble  self- 
sacrifices,  Christian  fidelities,  and  the  blessings  of 
God  on  their  labor  for  their  slaves,  we  have  been 
quite  willing  to  pass  by  unnoticed.  Undeniably  all 
this  is  unjust.  I  say  it  is  unjust.  Nor  can  it  fail 
to  be  true  that  this  very  neglect  has  done  much  to 
harm  the  Church  and  the  country  for  the  last  quarter 
of  a  century.  I  will  take  it  upon  me  to  express  the 
fear  that  at  the  bar  of  God,  this  very  neglect  may 
have  something  to  answer  for  in  the  sundering  of  the 
Presbyterian  Church  at  our  last  General  Assembly. 
Just  imagine  that  our  dear  brethren  of  the  North 
had  pursued  a  perfectly  opposite  course.  Suppose 
that  they  had  felt  and  said :  "  We  have  been  teVtify- 
ing  and  testifying  against  slavery  at  the  South  for 
thirty  years.  Surely,  all  the  South  and  all  the  world 
have  the  full  benefit  of  our  condemnatory  testimony 
on  this  subject.  No  man  under  heaven  can  doubt 
where  we  stand,  how  we  feel.  We  have  been  no 
Delphic  Oracle  on  the  point  of  our  abhorrence  of  this 
institution. ,  But  the  evil  of  slavery  is  not  all  the 
truth  of  the  world.  Nor  all  the  truth  of  the  South. 
We  have  brethren  there,  and  good  brethren.  Neigh- 
bors, and  good  neighbors.  And  if  wrong  things 
have  been  done  at  the  South,  so  have  right  things 
been  done  at  the  South.  And  since  we  have 


262  MODERN   REFORM. 

long  been  faithful  in  condemning  the  wrong  things 
of  our  brethren,  at  last  let  us  be  faithful  on  the  other 
side,  and  begin  to  approve  their  right  things.  Yes ! 
In  even-handed  justice,  in  obedience  to  self-evident 
duty,  in  approving  the  right  as  well  as  condemning 
the  wrong,  we  will  fix  our  eyes  upon  another  aspect 
of  this  mighty  subject.  We  will  look  our  good 
brethren  of  the  South  directly  in  the  face,  and  love 
them.  We  will  think  of  all  their  responsibilities, 
and  encourage  them.  We  will  inquire  into  all  their 
trials,  and  sympathize  with  them.  We  will  study 
out  all  their  noble  Christian  deeds,  and  admire  them. 
We  will  survey  all  God's  blessings  upon  their  labors, 
and  rejoice  in  them.  And  we  will  summon  this 
General  Assembly  to  the  discharge  of  a  long-neglected 
and  a  most  happy  duty.  Yes !  We  will  cease  our 
condemnatory  testimony  for  once,  and  we  will  stir 
up  our  souls  to  take  great  delight  in  bearing  most 
hearty,  fraternal  witness  to  all  in  the  character  and 
conduct  of  our  dear  brethren,  which  our  Christian 
discretion  commands  us  to  approve."  Oh  I  had  our 
brethren  of  the  North  but  possessed  a  heart  to  do  this  I 
How  just!  How  wise  I  How  salutary  I  It  would  have 
saved  the  Church.  It  would  have  staunched  long- 
running  wounds.  It  would  have  cheered  all  good 
hearts  and  works  in  Southern  lands.  It  w.ould  have 
locked  the  arms  of  the  South  around  the  North. 
Yes !  Yes  !  It  would  have  accomplished  the  great 
work  and  hope  of  the  country.  For  it  would  have 
thrown  the  kind  heart  of  the  North  upon  the  South, 


FRATERNAL   EXHORTATION".  263 

and  thus  brought  North  and  South,  side  by  side,  to 
work  with  God  for  the  slaye,  for  Africa,  for  the  holy 
power  of  our  country,  and  for  the  conversion  of  the 
world. 

Our  agency  !  Has  it  not  been  wrong  ?  Our  in- 
fluence !  Has  it  not  been  pernicious  ?  We  have 
suffered  the  strong  spirit  of  our  deluded  brethren  to 
bear  us  away  too  far  from  a  wise  and  just  Christian 
course  on  this  subject.  We  must  love  them  with  all 
our  hearts,  but  from  this  day  we  must  change  our 
policy.  We  must  take  a  new  stand.  We  must  tell 
our  brethren  frankly  and  firmly,  that  they  are  wrong. 
That  they  have  the  wildest  men  of  the  nation  in  their 
lead,  and  though  they  mean  it  not,  the  darkest  doom 
of  Church  and  State  for  their  work.  We  must 
make  them  understand  that  the  time  past  shall  abun- 
dantly suffice  for  our  countenance,  our  toleration,  of 
such  an  enterprise,  direct  or  indirect.  And  while  we 
will  not  be  what  they  unrighteously  charge,  "  Pro- 
Slavery^  we  will  yet  try  to  persuade  them  to  part 
with  their  wretched  extravagances,  and  come  up 
and  join  us  in  working  for  the  slave  and  for  the 
master,  and  for  the  country,  and  for  the  Church,  and 
for  ourselves,  and  for  them,  and  for  God,  and  his  lost 
world.  We  will  exhort  them  to  enlist  under  our 
banner  and  join  us  in  carrying  out  that  calmer, 
kinder,  wiser  course,  which  promises  to  accomplish/ 
all  God's  most  humane  designs  in  introducing  Afri- 
cans into  America.  My  brother  1  has  not  your 
agency  been  wrong  and  harmful  ? 


264:  MODERN  REFORM. 

Finally.  Consider  your  solemn  future  duty.  You 
have  long  been  standing  in  unprotected  peril.  You 
must  seek  protection.  You  have  been  doing  an  un- 
just and  injurious  work.  You  must  learn  to  do 
better. 

For  your  protection  see  to  it  that  you  rectify  your 
mind. 

You  have  long  felt  that  there  is  a  mighty  power 
in  the  Reform  cause.  Mark!  To  an  enlightened 
Christian  there  is  no  power  there.  This  Anti-Slave- 
ry movement  is  wrong  in  principle.  It  sets  out  to 
reform  God's  heritage,  but  it  takes  up  the  very  oppo- 
site of  every  radical  element  of  reformation,  and 
goes  to  work  with  these  carnal  weapons.  Surely  it 
must  do  harm.  The  nature  of  things  makes  mis- 
chief its  necessary  result.  Now  fix  the  fact  for  ever 
in  your  mind,  that  this  Anti- Slavery  movement  is  a 
wrong  thing,  doing  harm.  So  root  and  ground  this 
truth  in  your  mind  that  your  soiil  shall  rally  upon  it 
instantly  and  strongly.  Dwell  upon  its  arrogance, 
its  malevolence,  its  belligerence,  its  prejudice,  and  so 
incorporate  its  every  feature  with  your  mind  that 
you  may  readily  fell  back  upon  each  and  all  at  any 
time,  and  bring  yourself  to  an  intelligent  and  decided 
opposition.  Carry  in  your  soul,  too,  the  witnesses  of 
its  danger  to  the  country,  damage  to  the  slave,  injust- 
ice to  the  master,  disturbance  of  the  Church,  desecra- 
tion of  the  pulpit,  and  dishonor  of  the  Bible.  Nor 
forget  its  overthrow  of  the  liberty  of  the  soul,  in  its 
idolatry  of  the  liberty  of  the  body.  Only  do  thi?  : 


FRATERNAL  EXHORTATION.  265 

Only  thoroughly  instruct  your  mind  concerning  the 
character  and  influence  of  this  movement,  and  you 
have  destroyed  its  power.  You  have  disarmed  your 
adversary.  Be  not  content,  however,  to  stop  here. 
Build  well  your  own  foundations.  Study  the  word 
of  God,  and  fear  not  to  say  as  did  Micaiah  :  "  As  the 
Lord  liveth:  what  the  Lord  saith,  that  will  I  do." 
Follow  firmly  the  plain  teachings  of  Scripture.  In- 
struct your  mind  too  in  the  fact  that  of  a  truth  the 
Anti-Slavery  disposition  of  the  bondman  would  per  • 
petrate  the  clearest  injustice,  because  it  would  inflict 
the  direst  results  upon  all  society.  Acquaint  your- 
self with  all  of  duty  which  the  South  has  done  and 
is  doing,  that  so  far  you  may  approve  and  find  en  • 
couragement  to  work,  and  pray,  and  hope.  Above 
all,  never  forget  God's  providence  in  bringing  the 
black  man  so  far  from  his  own  home,  to  the  home  of 
the  white  man.  Surely  it  is,  that  we  might  use  his 
bondage  as  we  use  the  subjection  of  the  child,  to 
teach,  to  train,  and  to  christianize ;  and,  all  this,largely 
that  we  might  thus  impower  him  to  teach,  train,  and 
christianize  the  man  of  his  color  in  all  the  world. 
Ever  bear  in  your  mind  that,  touching  duty  to  the 
slave,  this  is  the  great  work,  this  the  great  end.  And 
never  forget  This,  that  to  fail  to  feel  for  the  slave,  work 
for  the  slave,  send  down  the  Gospel  to  the  slave,  stand 
by  and  encourage  those  Southern  brethren  who  are 
directly  and  daily  toiling  for  the  best  good  of  the 
slave, — to  fail  to  do  this,  through  any  Abolition  influ- 
ence, direct  or  indirect,  is  to  be  shamefully  recreant 

12 


266  MODERN  BEFOEM. 

to  high  duty.  This  decided  repudiation  of  extreme 
views,  intelligent  adoption  of  just  sentiments,  and 
hearty,  steady  cooperation  with  the  men  who  are  not 
clamoring  but  working  for  the  man  of  color,  is  the 
one  only  position  that  should  never  be  changed  on  this 
subject,  the  one  only  position  where  a  man  can  stand 
firmly. 

Finally.  For  the  good  of  the  kingdom  see  to  it 
that  you  rectify  your  agency. 

To  do  this,  allow  me  to  repeat,  you  must  kindly 
and  firmly  maintain  an  active  disapproval  of  the 
Eeform  movement. 

Just  as  certainly  as  Christianity  prospers  and  God 
reigns,  just  so  certainly  this  violent  spirit  will  be 
overthrown.  The  only  proper  way  to  accomplish 
this  end,  is  to  treat  it  as  it  deserves.  All  reason  and 
conscience  charge  us  to  see  to  it,  that  we  decidedly 
discountenance  it  as  a  wrong  thing. 

We  owe  it  to  ourselves  in  self-protection.  Sin  finds 
a  sympathy  within  us — therefore,  if  we  do  not  resist 
sin,  we  yield  to  it.  Man's  nature  can  not  be  indif- 
ferent to  the  Anti-Slavery  appeal.  To  seek  to  be 
neutral,  or  to  suffer  ourselves  to  be  so,  is,  to  give  way 
to  its  power,  and  adopt  the  system.  We  must  des- 
troy its  power  by  disapproval,  if  we  w'ould  not  be 
shaped  by  its  influence.  We  owe  it  to  ourselves  in 
moral  principle.  We  are  under  law;  built  to  stand 
by  truth  and  righteousness.  This  Reform  is  wrong 
in  spirit  and  principle,  decidedly,  mischievously 
wrong.  We  are  unfaithful  to  conscience  and  to 


FRATERNAL   EXHORTATION.  267 

Q-od,  if  we  do  not  make  men  know  that,  in  our 
judgment,  every  man  should  do  what  he  can  to  re- 
form it. 

"We  owe  it  to  every  fellow-man  under  its  influence. 
.  We  are  our  brother's  keeper.  He  is  injuring  him- 
self and  all  mankind — deeply  injuring  all.  We  owe 
it  to  him  to  seek  his  deliverance  from  evil.  There  is 
no-possible  method  of  effecting  this  end  if  we  with- 
hold solemn,  downright  condemnation.  Strive  to  be 
neutral !  You  encourage  him,  for  he  will  be  sure  to 
think  that  your  heart  fears  public  opinion,  but  your 
conscience  is  on  his  side.  With  prompt  and  pro- 
found seriousness  unbosom  your  conscience  to  him, 
and  bear  testimony  against  his  ways  as  he  does 
against  yours.  Nothirfg  short  of  this  will  ever  be- 
stow upon  him  that  very  kindest  service  it  is  in  our 
power  to  render. 

We  owe  it  to  the  cause  of  Christ.  We  are  put 
into  the  vineyard,  fellow-laborers  with  our  brethren. 
They  are  most  mischievously  mismanaging  our  Mas- 
ter's interests.  Kindly,  but  firmly,  we  must  object, 
remonstrate,  and  withstand.  Through  our  remissness 
and  lack  of  decision  they  have  deeply  damaged  the 
Lord's  kingdom.  Its  only  protection  lies  in  our 
faithful  remonstrance. 

We  owe  it  to  our  country.  What  a  troubler  of 
Israel  this  spirit  has  been  in  Church  and  State  ?  It 
is  an  instrument  which  chafes  and  divides  all  it 
touches.  It  does  not  simply  destroy  kindness  and 
respect,  it  breeds  scorn  and  rage  toward  all  who  fail 


268  MODERN  EEFOBM. 

to  abet  its  cause.  It  has  thrown  the  nation  into  a 
state  of  universal  turmoil,  nor  will  it  ever  come 
down  to  the  temper  of  reconciliation,  reflection  and 
reformation,  until  this  violent  spirit  is  subdued.  For 
the  union,  the  peace,  and  the  moral  progress  of  the. 
nation,  therefore,  this  element  of  alienation  and  strife 
must  be  decidedly  discountenanced. 

We  owe  it  especially  to  that  cause  which  the  Re- 
form has  taken  in  hand — the  cause  of  the  slave — the 
cause  of  Providence.  '  No  solid  advantage  can  ever 
accrue  to  the  slave  until  he  finds  a  better  friend  than 
his  Reform  patron.  Clamor  about  liberty  will  never 
make  a  slave  a  freeman  or  a  Christian.  The  reason 
is  obvious.  Clamor  can  not  work.  Nothing  is  done 
without  work — quiet,  steady  work.  The  spirit  of 
this  enterprise  is  restless,  noisy,  quarrelsome.  It  will 
never  sit  down  to  teach  the  dull  slave  from  year  to 
year.  It  will  never  quietly  do  its  little  part  of  con- 
tributing regularly  to  preach  the  Gospel  to  the  bond- 
man. It  can  never  compose,  itself  to  construct  a 
calm  and  suitable  prayer,  and  offer  it  daily  and  quietly 
in  the  closet.  In  a  word,  it  is  utterly  destitute  of 
that  patient  spirit,  that  self-denying  labor,  which 
alone  can  save  the  slave.  The  heart  of  our  neighbor 
has  a  good  meaning  at  the  foundation,  but  the  good 
will  never  reach  the  slave,  because  his  mind  is  disor- 
dered by  the  control  of  a  fanatical  element.  If  you 
doubt  it,  give  yourself  the  help  of  observation. 
Look  around  you.  Exactly  in  proportion  as  men 


FRATERNAL   EXHORTATION.  269 

are  noisy  against  slavery,  they  do  nothing  for  the 
slave. 

The  fact  is,  the  principle  of  the  Keformer  as  well 
as  his  spirit,  works  out  this  issue.  He  holds,  that  to 
send  the  Gospel  to  the  South  by  men  who  do  not  en- 
tertain his  views  is — "  Pro-Slavery"  By  a  double  ne- 
cessity this  doctrine  bereaves  the  slave  of  every  good. 
The  master  will  surely  expel  the  agent,  and  the  Ke- 
former will  as  certainly  withhold  and  discourage  all 
kinds  of  practicable  service.  Indeed,  I  doubt  not  the 
decided  tendency  of  the  Reformer's  principle  to  chill 
even  prayer  itself,  or  convert  it  into  a  boisterous  out- 
cry against  that  which  he  hates.  Give  way,  there- 
fore, to  the  Reform  power  of  the  country,  and  indi- 
vidual sympathy,  %  liberality,  and  activity  in  all  the 
North  will  never  be  educated  to  those  wholesome, 
practical  habits  which  promise  to  bear  substantial 
blessing  to  the  man  of  color.  Nor  is  this  all !  Give 
way  to  this  extreme  Anti-Slavery  temper,  and  what 
becomes  of  a  kind  heart  between  the  North  and  the 
South  ?  that  indispensable  pre-requisite  to  the  pros- 
perous fulfillment  of  providential  designs  in  behalf  of 
the  African.  Certainly  there  is  no  one  cause  which 
works  so  effectually  to  embroil  the  North  and  the 
South,  and  to  obstruct  national  cooperation  with  God's 
missionary  providence. 

By  the  most  solemn  obligations,  therefore,  to  God 
and  to  man,  we  are  bound  to  bear  kind  but  faithful 
testimony  to  our  Reform  neighbors,  that  they  are 
wrong,  and  doing  wrong.  We  must  do  this,  that  we 


270  MODERN   REFORM. 

may  break  that  power  winch  they  have  with  the 
world  through  our  neglect  to  take  decided  public 
ground  against  them ;  we  must  do  this,  to  assist  then 
to  see  the  error-  of  their  way  and  bring  them  toward 
the  only  position  which,  by  any  possibility,  can  accom- 
plish the  good  they  seek. 

Oh !  that  God  would  shed  upon  our  country  a 
spirit  of  calm  and  serious  reflection !  On  every  hand 
glaring  are  the  signs  that  we  have  left  the  old  paths : 
That  we  have  done  wrong:  That  God  holds  us 
gipuy  in  his  sight.  Many  nations  have  been  des- 
troyed for  sin.  Critical  indeed;  is  our  condition. 
But  three  possible  courses  lie  before  us  :  We  must 
be  left  of  God  to  go  on  to  destruction.  Or  we  must 
be  sorely  chastised  by  God  into  reformation.  Or  if 
there  yet  remains  a  sufficient  conservative  intelligence 
and  piety  in  the  land, — in  the  fear  of  God,  in  mutual 
respect  and  kindness,  we  must  employ  it  in  habits  of 
teachable  and  prayerful  thought.  Where  shall  we 
begin  ?  Were  I  summoned  to  express  the  prompt- 
ings of  a  fallible  nature,  I  would  pray  that  God  in 
mercy  to  us,  to  our  country,  and  to  the  world,  would 
be  pleased  to  imbue  all  moderate  men  with  that  min- 
gled wisdom,  kindness,  and  firmness,  which  would 
qualify  us  to  bear  truth  most  effectually  to  the  mind 
of  our  Keform  neighbors  and  brethren ;  that  in  the 
greatness  of  his  grace  he  would  kindly  teach  them 
that  more  excellent  way  wherein  they  may  retain  all 
their  principles  of  justice  and  philanthropy  without 
defeating  their  influence ;  may  accomplish  all  their 


FRATERNAL   EXHORTATION.  271 

ends  by  lending  to  wiser  methods  the  hearty  contri- 
bution of  their  own  intrepidity  and  vigor.  We  know 
nothing :  but  surely  it  would  seem  to  us — secure  but 
this,  and  instantly  by  its  most  happy  bearing  in  a 
thousand  ways,  we  should  be  transformed  into  the 
happiest  people  that  ever  shouted  thanksgivings  to 
the  Father  of  all  mercies.  The  country  agitated  no 
more !  The  Church  distracted  no  longer  1  The 
North  and  the  South  meeting  in  kindness,  and  co- 
working  in  cheerful  prospect  of  our  permanent  na- 
tion al  and  Christian  prosperity !  And  the  slave,  the 
innocent  cause  of  all  our  troubles,  by  the  happy 
cooperation  of  the  whole  country  conducted  along 
wisely  through  gradations  of  general  improvement, 
which  God  shall  direct,  in  God's  own  best  tune,  shall 
surely  come  to  take  his  place  among  future  genera- 
tions, every  way  qualified  to  work  with  other  men 
for  the  ultimate  fulfillment  of  God's  glory  in  the 
happy  destiny  of  .the  race. 

Who  am  I  ?  A  fallen  man  !  Where  am  I  ?  In 
a  fallen  world !  Who  are  these  about  me  ?  Fallen 
fellow-men  I  Oh !  then  to  rise  to  God,  and  to  raise 
our  fellows,  individually  and  universally,  is  the  great 
work  of  man.  "In  humble  suggestion,  because  falli- 
ble ;  in  honest  effort,  because  under  duty,  I  put  forth 
this  word.  If  it  is  a  right  word,  the  Lord  in  faithful- 
ness impower  it.  If  it  is  a  wrong  word,  God  in 
mercy  bury  the  work  and  forgive  the  workman. 


APPENDIX 


AT  the  close  of  the  Revolution,  a  Convention  of  Delegates 
from  the  thirteen  States,  sat  in  Philadelphia,  to  consult  upon 
the  formation  of  a  Constitution  for  the  country.  On  the  8th 
of  August,  1787,  the  Committee  to  whom  the  subject  was  re- 
ferred, reported  a  draft,  of  which  the  4th  section  of  ART.  VIII. 
ran  thus :  "No  tax  or  duty  shall  be  laid  by  the  Legislature  on 
articles  exported  from  any  States,  nor  on  the  migration  or  im- 
portation of  such  persons  as  the  seve*  tl  States  shall  think  pro- 
per to  admit ;  NOB  SHALL  seen  MIGRATION  OB  IMPORTATION  BE 
PROHIBITED."  The  slave-trade  by  this  report  is  legalized  for- 
ever. The  committee  who  made  this  suggestion  was  composed 
of  five  persons,  Rutledge,  Randolph,  Gorham,  Ellsworth,  and 
Wilson.  The  first  two  from  the  South,  the  last  three  from  the 
North.  The  second  committee  to  whom  this  subject  was  sub- 
sequently intrusted,  made  the  following  report:  "Strike  out 
so  much  of  the  fourth  section  as  was  referred  to  the  committee, 
and  insert :  '  The  migration  or  importation  of  such  persons  as 
the  several  States  now  existing  shall  think  proper  to  admit, 
shall  not  be  prohibited  by  the  Legislature  PRIOR  TO  THE  YEAR 
1800.' "  The  slave-trade  is  arrested  by  this  report  at  a  time 
stated.  The  committee  who  reported  this  amendment  consisted 
of  eleven  persons — Langdon,  King,  Johnson,  Livingston,  Cly- 
mer,  Dickenson,  Martin,  Williams,  Pinkney,  Baldwin,  Madison. 
The  first  five  represented  Northern  States;  the  last  six,  Southern 
States 

12* 


274  APPENDIX. 


IB- 

AN  Anniversary — a  Convention  of  an  organized  Society — calls 
out  the  largest  attendance  of  its  leading  men.  Their  addresses 
and  resolutions,  their  temper,  sentiments,  and  language,  on 
such  occasions,  constitute  a  fair  type  of  the  spirit  and  principle 
of  the  enterprise. 

At  a  meeting  of  the  Anti-Slavery  Convention  in  Boston,  in 
May,  1856,  Charles  L.  Remond,  a  colored  man,  said,  remember- 
ing Washington  as  a  slaveholder,  he  "could  spit  upon  Washing- 
ton." [Loud  hisses  and  applause.]  "The  hissers,"  he  said, 
"  were  slaveholders  in  spirit,  and  every  one  of  them  would  en- 
slave him  if  they  had  the  courage  to  do  it.  So  near  to  Faneuil 
Hall  and  to  Bunker  Hill,  was  he  not  permitted  to  say  that  that 
SCOUNDREL  Washington  had  enslaved  his  fellow-men."  [Hisses 
and  applause.]  Wendell  Phillips  followed  Remond,  and  said : 
"  Washington  was  a  sinner.  It  became  an  American  to  cover 
his  face  when  he  placed  .iis  bust  among  the  great  men  of  the 
world,  for  it  was  stained  with  a  great  gout  of  blood ;  yet  he 
was  a  great  man,  had  great  virtues,  and  he  would  not  give  him 
the  name  of  scoundrel,  because  there  were  too  many  for  whom 
they  should  keep  that  name."  On  the  same  occasion,  W.  L. 
Garrison  attacked  Mr.  Everett  for  his  lecture  on  Washington. 
Report  in  the  Boston  Traveller,  May  29,  1856. 

Henry  C.  Wright  said  in  his  speech  before  the  N.  E.  Anti- 
Slavery  Convention,  in  Boston,  May  28, 1850,  in  answer  to  the 
question,  "Who  is  the  God  of  humanity?" 

"He  is  not  the  God  of  Slavery.  He  is  not  the  God  of 
Daniel  Webster.  He  is  not  the  God  of  Moses  Stuart,  or  of 
Leonard  Woods,  or  of  Ralph  Emerson.  I  do  not  mean  Ralph 
Waldo  Emerson,  but  the  Rev.  Dr.  Emerson.  He  is  not  the 
God  that  is  preached  in  Winter-Street  Church,  by  Rev.  William 

M.  Rogers." 

***** 

"  Shame  on  the  nation,  and  shame  on  its  politics,  and  shame 
on  its  religion,  I  say,  and  shame  on  such  a  God.  I  defy  him, 


APPENDIX.  275 

I  scorn  him,  he  is  not  my  God.     I  will  never  bow  to  his  shrine. 
My  head  shall  go  off  with  my  hat,  when  I  take  it  off  to  such  a 
God  as  that ;"  and  much  more  in  the  same  style. 
•   The  speech  is  published  in  the  Liberator,  Garrison's,  of  June 
7,  1850,  (phonographic  report  by  Dr.  Stone.)  • 

In  the  same  paper,  same  date,  Wm.  L.  Garrison  is  reported 
to  have  offered  several  resolutions.  The  16th  was  as  follows: 

"Resolved,  That  if  the  BIBLE  sanctions  slavery,  and  is  thus 
opposed  to  the  self-evident  truth  that  'all  men  are  created 
equal,  and  have  an  inalienable  right  to  liberty,'  the  Bible  is  a 
self-evident  falsehood,  and  ought  to  be,  and  will  ere  long  be 
regarded  as  the  enemy  of  nature,  and  nature's  God,  and  of 
the  progress  of  the  human  race  in  liberty,  justice,  and  good- 
ness." 

At  the  same  Convention  Henry  C.  "Wright  said:  "If  you 
would  see  what  slavery  is,  look  into  your  hearts.  What  use, 
then,  is  it  to  ask,  whether  the  Bible  sanctions  slavery  or  not? 
for  your  heart  has  decided  the  question.  The  book  (the  Bible) 
if  it  sanctions  slavery,  is  a  self-evident  falsehood,  and  should 

be  treated  as  such,  so  far  as  slavery  is  concerned." 
*  *  *  *  * 

"The  question  is  often  put  to  me:  '"Would  you  believe 
slavery  to  be  right,  if  God  should  declare  it  right?'  'No!' 
4  What  would  you  do ? '  'I  would  fasten  the  chain  upon  the 
heel  of  such  a  God,  and  let  the  man  go  free.  For  such  a  God 
is  a  phantom.  I  would  discard  the  phantom,  and  liberate  the 
slave.' "  [Cheers  and  hisses.]  This  Mr.  Wright  was  formerly 
pastor  of  the  First  Congregational  (Orthodox)  Church  in  West- 
Newbury,  Mass.  He  now  has  no  connection  with  any  reli- 
gious denomination. 

In  a  letter  dated  May  21,  1851,  writteu  to  Rev.  Henry  Ward 
Beecher,  and  published  in  the  Liberator,  of  June  20,  1851,  are 
the  following  sentences  of  Henry  C.  Wright : 

."  Anti-Slavery  will  triumph;  but  only  on  the  ruins  of  the 
American  Church.  Humanity  will  surely  come  off  victorious 
over  what  this  nation  call*  God,  and  hurl  him  forever  from  hig 


276  APPENDIX. 

throne  of  blood ;  simply  because  that  God  has  staked  his  claim 
to  our  worship  on  the  support  of  slavery." 

The  same  paper  reports  Rev.  Daniel  Foster,  of  Concord, 
Mass.,  in  the  course  of  an  earnest  Anti-Slavery  speech,  to  have 
said :  "He  stood  on  that  floor  as  an  Orthodox  clergyman,  but 
he  did  not  come  to  indorse  the  conduct  of  his  brethren  of  the 
denomination.  He  had  often  said  to  his  people,  and  he  repeat- 
ed it  here  now,  that  he  would  as  soon  exchange  with  the  devil 
as  with  one  of  these  hireling  priests,  these  traitors  to  God  and 
humanity."  [Applause.] 

He  considered  the  professed  Church  of  Christ  false,  and  its 
hireling  priesthood  utterly  unworthy  of  confidence ;  but,  God 
be  thanked,  the  Anti-Slavery  people  were  in  the  field  1  They 
were  the  true  Church  of  Christ,  and  aim  to  carry  out  the  true 
design  of  the  Gospel  of  Christ  [Great  applause.]  This  Mr. 
Foster  was  one  of  the  chaplains  of  the  Legislature  of  Massachu- 
setts, in  1855  6.  He  is  not  now  connected  with  the  Orthodox 
Congregationalists. 

At  the  New-England  Anti-Slavery  Convention,  held  in  Bos- 
ton, May,  1852,  Mr.  Garrison  offered  the  following  among  other 
resolutions : 

"Itesolved,  That  it  is  still  sacredly  imposed  upon  us,  by  a 
scrupulous  regard  for  the  truth,  by  strict  fidelity  to  the  cause 
of  the  perishing  slave,  by  all  the  aspirations  and  claims  of 
oppressed  humanity,  universally  to  declare  that  the  American 
Church  is  the  mighty  bulwark  of  American  slavery,  the  haughty, 
corrupt,  implacable,  and  impious  foe  of  the  Anti-Slavery  move- 
ment, whether  in  its  mildest  or  most  radical  aspect — the  defend- 
er and  sanctifier  of  colossal  wrong  and  transcendent  impiety, 
and,  consequently,  that  its  pretensions  to  Christianity  are  the 
boldest  effrontery  and  the  vilest  imposture." 

In  the  same  Convention,  Rev.  Mr.  Griswold,  of  Stonington, 
Conn.,  is  reported  in  the  Liberator  to  have  said:  "For  the 
Church  which  sustains  slavery,  wherever  it  be,  I  am  ready 
to  say  with  another,  I  will  welcome  the  bolt,  whether  it  come 
from  heaven  or  from  hell,  which  shall  destroy  it." 


• 


APPENDIX.  277 


a. 

THESE  sheets  go  to  press  at  a  season  of  the  year  when  society 
on  the  Atlantic  is  in  a  state  of  unusual  dispersion.  I  have 
consequently  failed  to  secure  that  definiteness  of  statistical 
statement  anticipated. 

SLAVES  EMANCIPATED. — In  1840  there  were  215,000  freo 
blacks  in  the  South.  Add  all  subsequently  freed,  and  all 
deaths  and  emigrations  for  a  hundred  years  before:  affix  to 
each  any  reasonable  appreciation,  exclusive  of  outfit,  and  you 
make  both  the  number  and  the  value  of  slaves  liberated  largely 
greater  than  the  statements  of  the  text. 

2.  COLORED  CHURCH-MEMBERSHIP. — In  1855,  Heathen  church- 
membership  is  set  down  at  180,000.  The  present  estimate  of 
colored  church-members  in  the  Methodist  Church,  South,  is 
175,000.  Eight  or  ten  years  ago  the  Baptist  colored  member- 
ship at  the  South  was  recorded  as  only  4000  less  than  the 
Methodist.  When  to  these  two  numbers,  you  add  all  the 
colored  members  of  other  un-included  organizations  of  Metho- 
dists and  Baptists,  also  of  Episcopalians,  Lutherans,  and  Pres- 
byterians, Old-School,  New-School,  and  Cumberland,  you  rea- 
dily reach  an  aggregate  of  colored  church-membership  near 
twice  as  large  as  the  strictly  Heathen,  Orthodox  church-mem- 
bership of  the  world. 

INCENDIARY  PUBLICATIONS — SOUTHERN  SPIRIT  OP  EMANCIPA- 
TION.— Occasionally  from  the  commencement  of  the  Abolition 
excitement  in  the  country — by  private  hand  or  channel,  and  by 
mail,  disturbing,  insurgent,  Anti-Slavery  documents,  written  and 
printed,  have  been  scattered  through  larger  and  smaller  portions 
of  the  South.  One  of  the  most  unfortunate  attempts  of  this 
kind  was  made  in  the  year  1833  or  1834.  The  subject  of  State 
Emancipation  had  come  up  in  discussion  amongst  the  popula- 
tion of  Virginia.  The  gradual  Emancipation  Bill  was  introduced 


278  APPENDIX. 

into  the  Legislature,  the  whole  subject  extensively  investigated 
during  the  session,  and  postponed  for  the  yet  more  thorough 
examination  of  the  people  during  the  interim,  with  a  view  to 
final  decision,  the  next  year.  During  the  interval  the  Anti- 
Slavery  Society,  of  the  City  or  State  of  New-  York,  (its  Presi- 
dent then  resided  in  the  city,)  dispersed  over  (the  whole  South, 
I  think,  certainly,  through)  the  State  of  Virginia,  incendiary 
sheets  and  pamphlets,  embellished  with  pictures  of  the  slave, 
the  applied  lash,  the  streaming  blood,,  chains,  etc.,  etc. 

These  publications  were  addressed  perhaps  to  all  the  clergy, 
certainly  td  all  those  who  had  emigrated  from  the  North,  and 
to  a  large  number  of  other  leading  men  in  community.  Mail 
after  mail  deposited  its  insurrectionary  sheets  and  pictures  in 
the  hands  of  the  parties.  Instantaneously  there  sprang  up  a 
tremendous  reactionary  popular  excitement.  A  large  portion 
of  the  ministry  —  all  the  Northern  and  many  of  the  Southern 
ministers  —  left  the  State,  all  of  them  suddenly,  some  of  them' 
clandestinely.  Public  indignation  required  those  who  remained 
to  come  out  in  the  papers  of  the  day  and  denounce  this  North- 
ern interference.  As  to  incipient  emancipation  —  it  perished 
utterly  from  the  very  time  of  Abolition  inter-meddling. 
Months  elapsed  before  society  became  composed.  The  effect* 
of  this  and  similar  attempts  upon  the  peace  of  the  Southern 
mind  and  social  state,  continue  in  the  prohibitory  statutes 
which  curtail  the  literary  and  religious  privileges  of  the 
blacks. 


Osr  the  subject  of  slavery,  we  do  well  to  bear  in  mind,  that 
it  is  the  harsh  side  of  Southern  legislation,  and  the  kind  side 
of  Northern  legislation,  which  are  constantly  before  the  North- 
ern mind.  The  activity  of  Anti-Slavery  men  secures  the  per- 
petual circulation  of  the  offensive  laws  of  the  South,  while 
the  fact  that  slavery  has  been  abolished  by  Northern  law  lies 
before  every  man  on  the  face  of  Northern  society. 


APPENDIX.  279 

At  a  time  when  the  subject  of  slavery  is  undergoing  such 
vehement  discussion  at  the  North,  and  when  the  welfare  of 
Church  and  State  are  so  largely  dependent  upon  the  issue,  it 
is  important  to  impartial  investigation  that  the  Northern  mind 
— by  a  glance  at  least— should  reverse  the  position  of  the  sub- 
ject 

I  propose,  therefore,  to  place  before  the  reader  a  sketch  of  the 
Jeind  elements  of  Southern  legislation  upon  the  subject  of 
slavery,  side  by  side  with  a  glance  at  those  harsher  statutes 
which  the  North  felt  themselves  compelled  to  employ,  ijrhen 
called  in  providence  to  manage  the  institution. 

CHAP.  I. — SOUTHERN  SLAVE  LAW. 

The  Negro  Law  of  VIRGINIA,  as  presented  in  the  following 
view,  was  prepared  at  my  request  by  a  distinguished  member 
of  the  bar,  and  legal  officer  of  that  State. 

The  laws  of  Virginia,  in  respect  to  slaves,  are  of  two  classes : 
the  one  recognizing  them  as  persons,  the  other  as  property. 

I.  As  persons,  they  are  recognized  as  morally  responsible 
beings,  as  religiously  responsible  beings ;  in  either  case,  their 
rights — secured  by  law  and  penal  sanctions.  They  are  subjects 
of  legal  punishment,  and  are  protected  against  crimes  upon 
their  persons  by  legal  penalty  against  the  offender.  *  Their 
claim  to  freedom  may  be  asserted,  without  cost  or  charge,  and 
a  trial  by  jury,  before  a  judge,  secures  their  rights  to  freedom 
(if  any)  by  a  remedy  which  in  practice  has  been  found  com- 
plete and  favorable  to  their  claim. 

1.  As  moral  beings,  subject  to  law.     Of  all  offenses  of  which 
a  white  man  is  capable,  the  slave  is.     In  some  cases,  with  a 
lighter ;  in  others,  with  a  heavier  penalty. 

2.  As  religious  beings.     A  master  is  liable  to  a  fine,  if  he 
employ  his  apprentices,  servants,  or  slaves  in  labor  or  other 
business  on  Sunday,  except  in  household  or  other  work  of  ne- 
cessity or  charity.     A  Jew  or  other  "  Seventh-day"  believer  is 
not  subject  to  this  penalty,  provided  he  does  not  compel  a 


280  APPENDIX. 

slave,  apprentice,  or  servant,  not  of  7m  belief,  to  do  secular 
work  or  business  on  Sunday.  Here  is  a  recognition  of  reli- 
gious belief  in  the  slave,  as  well  as  in  the  master ;  the  property 
right  of  the  latter  is  infringed  to  protect  the  personal  belief  of 
the  former,  and  the  whole  is  secured  by  penal  sanction. 

While  the  law  forbids  unlawful  assemblies  of  negroes  for  re- 
ligious worship,  or  for  reading  or  writing,  yet  there  is  no  inhi- 
bition upon  the  master  to  teach  his  slave  to  read  and  write,  none 
to  teach  him  religiously,  or  to  permit  his  attending  public  wor- 
ship, where  it  is  conducted  by  a  white  person.  Indeed,  prac- 
tically, there  is  no  difficulty,  where  it  is  conducted  by  a  negro, 
under  circumstances  which  assure  the  police  it  is  not  perverted 
to  other  and  illegal  purposes. 

8.  Murder,  rape,  stabbing,  shooting,  and  even  assault,  may 
be  criminally  committed  upon  a  slave,  and  the  offender  is 
criminally  responsible.  Subject  to  the  proper  and  necessary 
qualifications  resulting  from  the  relation  of  master  and  slave, 
the  master  is  criminally  responsible  for  such  offenses  against 
his  slave,  except  in  the  case  of  assault,  where  from  necessity, 
correction  must  be  inflicted  by  the  master ;  and  the  limitations 
can  not  easily  be  prescribed  by  the  Legislature,  but  must  be 
left  to  general  principles,  as  in  cases  of  immoderate  correction 
by  a  parent  or  teacher.  If  the  injury  done  is  more  than  an 
assault,' and  becomes  mayhem,  stabbing,  shooting,  or  homicide, 
the  master  is  responsible. 

4.  A  claim  to  freedom  may  be  asserted  before  our  county  or 
circuit  court,  (our  courts  of  original  jurisdiction  in  all  cases.) 
The  claimant  has  counsel  assigned  to  him  without  charge,  and 
has  allowed  him  the  service  of  every  officer  of  court  without  cost. 
The  holder  of  the  claimant  is  dispossessed,  unless  he  gives 
bond,  that  he  will  have  the  claimant  forthcoming  to  abide  the 
court's  judgment,  and  to  allow  him  reasonable  opportunity  to 
prepare  for  trial.  The  case  is  ordered  to  be  tried  as  a  privi- 
leged case,  without  regard  to  its  place  on  the  docket.  If  the 
verdict  be  for  the  claimant,  the  jury  is  further  directed  to 
assess  damages  for  his  detention,  and  he  receives  by  the  judg- 


APPENDIX.  281 

ment  of  the  court  his  freedom,  his  damages,  and  his  costs.  If 
it  be  alleged,  that  the  officers  of  court  will  be  against  the  claim- 
ant, it  may  be  answered,  that  the  only  chance  for  their  costs, 
(usually  heavy  in  such  cases,)  is  the  success  of  the  claimant. 

5.  The  mode  of  their  trial  for  crimes  is  peculiar,  and  emi- 
nently merciful. 

Five  justices  (such  men,  any  three  of  whom  in  our  county 
courts  may  try  any  civil  cause  in  the  commonwealth,  whatever 
the  amount  involved)  sit  upon  the  trial  of  a  negro  slave  for 
felony. 

The  death  penalty  can  not  be  inflicted  unless  ihejice  justices 
concur.  In  a  case  where  the  punishment  must  be  capital,  a 
dissenting  voice  will  acquit:  in  which  the  law  is  more  merciful 
to  the  slave  than  to  the  white  man. 

In  all  cases  of  the  death  penalty  or  transportation,  the  record 
of  evidence  on  the  trial  is  sent  to  the  Governor.  He  may  com- 
mute the  former  to  transportation,  or  pardon  entirely. 

The  court  in  all  cases  assigns  counsel,  and  awards  to  him  a 
fee  which  must  be  paid  by  the  master.  Thus  the  slave  is 
better  provided  for  than  the  poor  white  man,  or  free  negro. 
He  has  a  master,  whom  the  law  compels  to  protect  him  ! 

6.  The  duty  of  masters  to  maintain  their  slaves  is  fully  pro- 
vided for  by  our  law,  in  those  cases  where  the  interest  of  the 
master  will  not  make  him  do  so. 

Any  person  permitting  an  insane,  aged,  or  infirm  slave  to  go 
at  large  without  adequate  provision  for  his  support  shall  be 
fined,  and  the  overseers  of  the  poor  shall  provide  for  such  slave, 
and  charge  the  owner  for  the  amount  thereof,  and  recover  the 
same  by  motion  in  the  court  of  the  county ;  and  to  prevent 
evasion,  if  such  person  by  gift,  sale,  or  emancipation,  attempt 
to  avoid  this  legal  duty  of  support  to  his  slave,  the  same  reme- 
dy is  provided. 

Can  as  much  be  said  for  the  hireling  of  the  free  States  ? 

7.  Our  laws  do  not  forbid  the  negro  to  be  taught  to  read  or 
write.    The  restraints  upon  it  were  enacted  when  the  Abolition 


282  APPENDIX. 

war  began  by  its  incendiary  appeals  to  the  slave  to  rise  against 
his  master.  If  the  slave  is  prevented  from  reading  the  Bible, 
it  is  because  Abolition  opposed  its  peaceful  lessons  of  obedience 
by  incitement  to  revengeful  passions  and  brutal  rebellion. 

8.  The  great  defeYise  to  the  personal  rights  of  the  negro  slave 
is  in  the  jurisdiction,  under  the  unwritten  common  law  of  our 
social  existence,  of  the  master.  Interest,  association  from 
childhood  to  age,  the  memories  in  common  between  the  old 
slaves  and  the  young  masters,  or  the  young  slaves  and  old 
masters,  links  of  sympathy,  which  none  can  comprehend  but 
Southern  people  and  those  who  have  lived  in  the  South ;  these 
are  the  defenses  of  the  slave  from  external  wrong  and  internal 
oppression.  The  same  motive  in  kind,  the  same  legal  defense 
from  outward  wrong,  which  protects  the  child  and  the  wife, 
defends  the  slave.  A  trespass  to  the  wife,  or  child,  or  slave, 
must  be  redressed  by  a  suit  by  the  husband,  parent,  and  mas- 
ter. The  master  can  gain  nothing,  but  loses  his  money,  by  the 
death,  discomfort,  and  inability  of  his  slave.  This  is  the  low- 
est, and  is  an  unworthy  aspect,  which  can  only  restrain  the 
more  brutal  of  Southern  men,  and  yet  it  shows  what  powerful 
motives  of  interest  guard  the  slave  even  against  the  brutality 
of  such  masters. 

Among  men  who  have  human  sympathy,  affection,  long  as- 
sociation, family  bonds  shield  the  slave  from  tyranny.  Not 
one  master  in  one  hundred,  is  a  cruel  one ;  not  one  in  fifty  a 
harsh  one ;  more  than  one  half  are  too  lenient  for  the  good  of 
masters  or  slaves. 

II.  In  the  respect  in  which  slaves  are  regarded  as  chattels. 

It  is  true  that  slaves  are  now  personal  estate.  At  one  time 
they  were,  in  Virginia,  real  estate.  Every  lawyer  knows  that 
these  are  necessary  divisions  of  all  property,  to  be  regarded,  in 
looking  to  its  transmission  after  death,  or  its  liability  for  the 
debts  of  the  owner  during  life.  Slaves  are  property;  now 
chattels,  or  personal  property. 


APPENDIX.  283 

• 

I  have  shown  that  slaves  are  persons ;  and  slave  persona  are 
property.  They  are  persons  and  property  ;  neither  alone. 

They  are  property  in  the  sense  that  children  are  the  property 
of  the  father ;  the  apprentice  of  the  master.  The  property  in 
each  consists  in  the  right  of  the  master  or  father  to  the  direc- 
tion and  avails  of  the  labor  of  the  slave,  child,  apprentice.  The 
slave  is  in  perpetual  minority.  His  is  a  permanent  subjection  ; 
that  of  the  child  or  apprentice,  temporary. 

Slaves  and  apprentices  are  personal  property  ;  that  is,  they 
both  go  to  the  personal  representative  at  the  master's  death. 
In  respect  to  them  as  property,  a  few  things  are  to  be  observed. 

1.  Slaves  shall  not  be  taken  under  execution,  when  there  are 
other  sufficient  goods  to  satisfy  it,  without  the  debtor's  con- 
sent— a  consent  which  a  debtor  is  loth  to  give,  where  he  can 
otherwise  save  his  slave. 

2.  An  administrator  or  executor  is  forbidden  to  sell  slaves  to 
pay  debts  or  legacies,  until  all  the  other  personal  property  has 
been  sold. 

3.  Slaves  shall  be  divided  as  real  property  is ;  that  is,  the 
widow  shall  have  one  third  of  them  for  her  life,  and  the  others 
to  be  distributed  among  the  legal  distributees. 

In  these  provisions  there  is  a  tender  regard  to  the  personal 
comfort  of  the  slave,  even  when  he  is  treated  merely  as  pro- 
perty. 

Thus  when  the  slave  is  treated  as  property,  there  is  a  regard 
to  his  interest  as  a  person.  When  treated  as  a  person,  he  has 
safeguards  of  law,  of  family,  of  courts ;  for  his  protection,  as  a 
man,  morally  and  religiously  responsible ;  against  his  own  mas- 
ter, for  his  support ;  for  his  defense  against  criminal  prosecu- 
tions ;  and  for  the  prosecution  of  his  own  right  in  law  to  be 
free. 


The  Negro  Law  of  KKNTUCKY  will  be  found  in  the  language 
of  the  State. 


284  APPENDIX. 

• 

Extracts  from  the  Constitution  and  Laws  of  Kentucky, 
in  reference  to  slaves. 

I.    Constitution. 

ART.  10,  §  1.  The  General  Assembly  .  .  .  shall  pass  laws 

to  permit  owners  of  slaves  to  emancipate  them They 

shall  have  full  power  to  prevent  slaves  being  brought  into 
this  State  as  merchandise.  They  shall  have  full  power  to  pre- 
vent slaves  being  brought  into  this  State,  who  have  been,  since 
the  1st  day  of  Jan.,  1789,  or  may  hereafter  be  imported  into 
any  of  the  United  States,  from  a  foreign  country.  And  they 
shall  have  full  power  to  pass  such  laws  as  may  be  necessary  to 
oblige  owners  of  slaves  to  treat  them  with  humanity,  to  pro- 
vide for  them  necessary  clothing  and  provision,  to  abstain  from 
from  all  injuries  to  them,  extending  to  life  and  limb,  and  in  case 
of  refusal  to  comply  with  the  direction  of  such  laws,  to  have 
such  slave  or  slaves  sold  for  the  benefit  of  their  owner  or 
owners. 

§  3.  The  Assembly  shall  have  no  power  (in  cases  of  prosecu- 
tion for  felony)  to  deprive  them  (slaves)  of  the  privilege  of  an 
impartial  trial  by  a  petit  jury. 

IL    legislative  Enactments. — (Revised  Statutes.) 

Chap.  93,  Art.  1,  §  3.  Slaves,  after  this  chapter  takes  effect, 
shall  be,  and  held  to  be,  personal  estate  ....  to  be  distri- 
buted, in  kind,  WITHOUT  SALE,  when  practicable. 

§  4.  Slaves  shall  not  be  sold  by  the  personal  representative, 
unless,  for  the  want  of  other  assets,  it  be  necessary  to  pay 

the  debts  of  the  decedent Suits  may  be  maintained  by 

the  personal  representative,  for  INJURIES  to  slaves  devised. 

Art.  2,  §  2.  No  slave  shall  be  imported  into  this  State  as 
merchandise,  or  for  the  purpose  of  sale  or  barter,  in  or  out  of 
this  State,  under  the  penalty  of  $600  for  each  slave  so  im- 
ported. 4 

§  4.  Immigrants  bringing  with  them  slaves,  ....  shall, 
within  sixty  days  after  their  arrival,  take  the  following  oath : 


APPENDIX.  285 

.  ..."  I  do  swear  that  my  removal  to  the  State  of  Kentucky 
was  with  the  intention  of  becoming  a  citizen  thereof,  and  that 
I  have  brought  with  me  no  slave  with  the  intention  of  selling 
him." 

§  6.  Requires  the  importer  of  slaves  to  take  a  similar  oath ; 
§  7  imposes  a  fine  of  $600  for  any  effort  to  evade  the  pre- 
ceding law ;  §  8  imposes  a  fine  of  $200  on  any  one  buying 
a  slave  so  imported  contrary  to  law  ;  §  9  provides  that  slaves, 
so  imported,  shall  not  be  subject  to  sale,  or  sold  under  execu- 
tion or  other  legal  procedure,  for  the  payment  of  "debts,  unless 
"  all  other  estate  of  the  debtor,  subject  to  the  payment  of  debts, 
shall  be  FIKST  exhausted" 

Art.  .4,  §  1.  If  the  owner  of  an  infirm,  insane,  or  aged  slave, 
or  any  person  having  such  skve  under  his  control,  suffers  him 
to  go  at  large,  or  fails  to  make  adequate  provisions  for  his  sup- 
port, he  shall  be  punished  by  fine,  not  exceeding  fifty  dollars  ; 
and  the  county  court,  or  other  public  authorities,  charged  with 
the  supervision  and  care  of  the  poor,  or  any  city,  town,  or 
county,  in  which  such  slave  may  be  found,  shall  provide  for 
his  maintenance,  may  charge  such  person  quarterly  or  an- 
nually, with  a  sum  sufficient  therefor,  and  recover  it,  from  time 
to  time,  by  a  motion  in  the  name  of  the  commonwealth,  in  the 
county  court. 

§  2.  If  the  owner  of  any  slave  shall  treat  him  cruelly  and 
inhumanly,  so  as,  in  the  opinion  of  a  jury,  to  endanger  the  life 
or  limb  of  said  slave,  or  materially  to  affect  his  health ;  tor-shall 
not  supply  his  slave  with  sufficient  wholesome  food  and  rai- 
ment, such  slave  shall  be  taken  and  sold  for  the  benefit  of  the 
owner. 

Art  7,  §  20.  It  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  master  or  owner, 
personal  representative  or  guardian  of  such  owner,  (in  case  of 
charge  for  felony,)  to  employ  counsel  to  defend  a  slav«>  when 
tried  in  circuit  court.  If  no  counsel  be  employed,  the  court 
shall  assign  counsel  to  defend  him.  The  master,  or  owner,  or  his 
personal  representative,  of  the  guardian,  shall  pay  said  counsel 
the  sum  accorded  him  by  order  of  the  court,  for  such  defense, 


286  APPENDIX. 

not  exceeding  fifty  nor  less  than  twenty  dollars,  and  may  be 
attached  and  compelled  to  pay.  the  same. 

There  is  no  law  in  Kentucky,  and  never  has  been,  prohibit- 
ing the  instruction  of  slaves  in  spelling  and  reading. 

It  is  also  to  be  observed  that  while  there  is  no  statute  pro- 
hibiting the  separation  of  husbands  and  wives,  and  especially 
children  and  parents,  it  is  within  our  chancery  jurisdiction, 
and  usually  acted  on  by  our  chancellors,  in  the  sales  of  slaves 
made  by  their  decrees,  to  provide  against  the  separation  of 
these  connections,  particularly  that  of  mothers  from  young 
children. 

It  may  be  also  observed,  as  showing  the  animus  of  our 
people,  that  cases  of  cruelty  in  the  treatment  of  slaves,  never 
fail  to  carry  with  them,  when  once  distinctly  defined,  the  loss 
of  caste,  with  respectable  society. 


The  Negro  Law  of  GEOBGIA  in  the  language  of  its  legislators 
and  judges. 

Extracts  from  the  Constitution  and  Laws  in  reference  to  Slaves. 

I.  The  CONSTITUTION  protects  the  life  and  members  of  the 
slave. 

Art.  4,  §  12.  The  Constitution  declares:  "Any  person  who 
shall  maliciously  dismember  or  deprive  a  slave  of  life,  shall 
suffer  such  punishment  as  would  be  inflicted  in  ca^e  the  like 
offense  had  been  committed  on  a  free  white  person,  and  on  the 
like  proof,  except  in  the  case  of  insurrection  by  such  slave, 
and  unless  such  death  should  happen  by  accident  in  giving 
such  slave  moderate  correction."  To  the  same  effect  is  the  act 
of  1799. 

IL  The  PENAL  CODE  protects  the  slave  from  cruel  treatment. 

1.  By  strangers.  "Any  person,  except  the  owner,  overseer 
or  employer  of  a  slave,  who  shall  beat,  whip,  or  wound  such 
slave ;  or  any  person  who  shall  beat*  whip,  or  wound  a  free 
person  of  color,  without  sufficient  cause  or  provocation  being 


APPENDIX.  287 

• 

first  given  by  such  slave  or  free  person  of  color ;  such  person  so 
offending  may  be  indicted  for  a  misdemeanor,  and  on  convic- 
tion shall  be  punished  by  fine  or  imprisonment  in  the  common 
jail  of  the  county,  or  both,  at  the  discretion  off  the  court;  and 
the  owner  of  such  slave,  or  guardian  of  such  free  person  of 
color,  may,  notwithstanding  such  conviction,  recover,  in  a  civil 
suit,  damages  for  the  injury  done  to  such  slave  or  free  person 
of  color." 

2.  By  owners,  employers,  etc.     "  Any  owner  or  employer  of  a 
slave  or  slaves,  who  shall  cruelly  treat  such  slave  or  slaves,  by 
unnecessary  and  excessive  whipping ;  by  withholding  proper 
food  and  sustenance ;  by  requiring  greater  labor  from  such  slave 
or  slaves  than  he,  she,  or  they  are  able  to  perform ;  or  by  not 
affording  proper  clothing,  whereby  the  health  of  such  slave  or 
slaves  may  be  injured  and  impaired — or  cause  or  permit  the 
same  to  be  done ;  any  such  owner  or  employer  shall  be  guilty 
of  a  misdemeanor,  and  on  conviction  shall  be  punished  by  fine 
or  imprisonment  in  the  common  jail  of  the  county,  or  both,  at 
the  discretion  of  the  court." 

3.  Against  Sabbath  labor.     The  Act  of  1770  declares  :  "If 
any  person  shall,  on  the  Lord's  day,  commonly  called  Sunday, 
employ  any  slave  in  any  work  or  labor,  (work  of  absolute 
necessity,  and  the  necessary  occupations  of  the  family  only 
excepted,)  every  person  so  offending  shall  forfeit  and  pay  the 
sum  of  ten  shillings  for  every  slave  he,  she,  or  they  shall  so 
cause  to  work  or  labor." 

4.  Their  impartial  trial  under  charge  of  capital  offenses  pro- 
vided for.     "  Slaves  and  free  persons  of  color  are,  in  cases  of 
charge  for  committing  capital  offenses,  to  be  tried  before  the 
superior  court  as  white  persons  are,  and  the  trial  shall  proceed 
to  rendition  of  verd'ct  in  conformity  with  the  provisions  of  the 
Penal  Code  of  the  State,"  etc. 

5.  Protection  against  temptations  to  drunkenness,  etc.     By 
the  Penal  Code  of  the  State  it  is  made  an  offense,  punishable 
by  fine  of  not  less  than  ten  nor  more  than  fifty  dollars,  (for  the 


2S8  APPENDIX. 

first  offense,)  and,  on  a  second  conviction,  by  fine  and  imprison- 
ment in  the  common  jail  at  the  discretion  of  the  court,  to  fur- 
nish a  slave  or  free  person  of  color  with  intoxicating  liquor, 
except  as  medicine  furnished  by  the  owner,  overseer,  or  em- 
ployer of  a  slave,  etc.  (Cobb's  Digest,  827.) 

6.  Legal  sympathy  with  him  a*  a  man.  "  The  laws  of  Georgia 
at  this  moment  recognize  the  negro  as  a  man,  whilst  they  hold 
him  as  property.  They  enforce  obedience  in  the  slave,  but 
they  require  justice  and  moderation  in  the  master.  They 
protect  his  life  from  homicide,  his  limbs  from  mutilation,  and 
his  body  from  cruel  and  unnecessary  scourging.  They  yield 
him  the  right  to  food  and  raiment,  to  kind  attentions  when 
sick,  and  to  maintenance  in  old  age ;  and  public  sentiment,  in 
conformity  with  indispensable  legal  restraints,  extends  to  the 
slave  the  benefits  and  blessings  of  religion." 

The  Chief-Justice  of  the  Court  of  Errors,  whose  sentiments 
are  expressed  above,  seems  to  entertain  the  conviction  that 
this  benign  consideration  of  the  claims  of  the  slave,  especially 
the  establishment  of  the  doctrine  that  the  killing  of  a  slave  is 
murder,  is  rather  the  result  of  Southern  statute  than  of  com- 
mon law.  He  considers  the  fact  of  statutory  legislation  de- 
claring that  such  killing  shall  be  murder,  in  connection  with 
the  fact  that  the  judicial  history  of  the  State  furnishes  no  evi- 
dence of  a  man's  being  tried  for  the  murder  of  a  slave  prior  to 
the  passage  of  the  statute  ;  and  especially  the  tenor  of  the  pre- 
amble of  the  statute,  as  contributing  to  furnish  conclusive  evi- 
dence of  such  an  opinion. 

"  Whereas,  from  the  increasing  number  of  slaves  in  this  pro- 
vince, it  is  necessary  as  well  to  make  proper  regulations  for 
the.  future  ordering  and  governing  of  such  slaves,  and  to  ascer- 
tain and  prescribe  the  punishment  of  crimes  by  them  commit- 
ted, as  to  settle  and  limit  by  positive  laws,  the  extent  of  the 
power  of  the  owners  of  such  slaves  over  them,  so  that  they  may 
be  Tceptindue  subjection  and  obedience,  and  owners  and  persons 
having  the  care  and  management  of  such  slaves,  may  be  re- 


APPENDIX.  289 

strained  from  exercising  unnecessary  rigor  or  wanton  cruelty 
over  them,  le  it  enacted*  etc. 

The  preamble  to  the  section  which  creates  the  offense,  recites 
as  follows : 

"  Whereas,  cruelty  is  not  only  highly  unbecoming  those  who 
profess  themselves  Christians,  but  is  odious  in  the  eyes  of  all 
men  who  have  any  sense  of  virtue  or  humanity,  therefore  to 
restrain  and  prevent  barbarity  being  exercised  towards  slaves, 
be  it  enacted,  etc. 

"  Now  we  say  that  it  is  clear  from  these  recitals,  that  before 
the  act  of  1770,  cruelties  and  barbarities  Avere  exercised,  and 
that  there  was  no  restraint  upon  the  power  of  the  master  by 
law,  over  his  slaves.  No  other  inference  is  possible."  (Georg. 
Reports,  vol.  9,  p.  582-4.) 



The  Negro  Law  of  SOUTH-CAROLINA  was  collected  and  di- 
gested by  John  Belton  O'Neal,  one  of  the  Judges  of  the  Court 
of  Law  and  Errors  of  said  State,  under  a  resolution  of  the 
State  Agricultural  Society,  read  before  them  at  their  semi- 
annual meeting  at  Spartanburgh,  in  1848,  and  by  them  directed 
to  be  submitted  to  the  Governor,  with  a  request  that  he  would 
lay  it  before  the  Legislature  at  its  next  session. 

The  extracts  presented  are,  of  course,  in  the  language  of 
Judge  O'Neal,  a  gentleman  well  worthy  of  the  high  offices 
which  he  holds  in  Church  and  State. 

CHAP.  I. — STATUS  OP  THE  NEGRO — His  Rights  and  Disabilities. 

§§  1  and  2.  Color  (black)  is  prima  facie  evidence  that  the 
party  is  a  slave.  The  offspring  to  follow  the  condition  of  the 
mother. 

§  6.  When  the  mulatto  ceases,  and  a  party  bearing  some 
slight  taint  of  African  blood  ranks  as  white,  is  a  question  for 
the  solution  of  a  jury. 

§  8.  No  specific  rule  as  to  the  quantity  of  negro  blood  which 
will  compel  a  jury  to  find  one  to  be  mulatto,  has  ever  been 
13 


290  APPENDIX. 

adopted.  Between  one  fourth  and  one  eighth  seems  fairly  to 
be  debatable  ground.  "When  the  blood  is  reduced  to  or  below 
one  eighth,  the  jury  ought  always  to  find  the  party  white. 
When  the  blood  is  one  fourth  or  more  African,  the  jury  must 
find  the  party  mulatto. 

§  22.  Under  the  Act  of  1740,  1st  section,  1st  proviso,  and 
the  Act  of  1799,  it  is  provided,  if  any  negro,  mulatto,  or  mestizo 
(the  offspring  of  white  and  Indian  parents)  shall  claim  his  or 
her  freedom,  he  may,  on  application  to  the  clerk  of  common  pleas 
of  the  district,  have  a  guardian  appointed  who  is  authorized 
to  bring  an  action  of  trespass,  in  the  nature  of  ravishment  of 
ward,  against  any  person,  claiming  property  in  the  said  negro, 
mulatto,  or  mestizo,  or  having  possession  of  the  same ;  in  which 
action  the  general  issue  may  be  pleaded,  and  the  special  circum- 
stances given  in  evidence ;  and  upon  a  general  or  special  ver- 
dict found,  judgment  shall  be  given  according  to  the  very 
right  of  the  case  without  any  regard  to  defects  in  the  proceed- 
ings in  form  or  substance.  In  such  case  if  the  verdict  be  that 
the  ward  of  the  plaintiff  is  free,  a  special  entry  shall  be  made 
•  declaring  him  to  be  free,  and  the  jury  is  authorized  to  assess 
damages  which  the  plaintiff's  ward  may  have  sustained,  and 
the  court  is  directed  to  give  judgment  and  award  execution  for 
the  damages  and  cost. 

§  26.  Proof  that  a  negro  has  been  suffered  to  live  in  a  com- 
munity for  years  as  a  free  man,  is  prima  facie  proof  of  freedom. 

§  27.  A  negro  at  large  without  an  owner  for  twenty  years 
— presumed  to  be  free. 

§  29.  Any  thing  which  shows  that  the  owner  had  deliberate- 
ly parted  with  his  property — enough  to  establish  freedom. 

§  30.  The  validity  of  freedom  depends  upon  the  law  of  the 
place  where  it  begins.  Hence  when  slaves  have  been  manu- 
mitted in  other  States,  and  are  found  in  this  State,  their  free- 
dom here  will  depend  upon  the  validity  of  the  manumission  at 
the  place  whence  they  came. 

§  35.  A  slave  illegally  emancipated  was  free  as  against  the 
owner,  under  the  Act  of  1800. 


APPENDIX.  291 

§  45.  Frtfft  negroes,  mulattoes,  and  mestizos  are  entitled  to  all 
the  rights  of  property,  and  protection  in  their  persons  and 
property  by  action  or  indictment,  which  the  white  inhabitants 
of  this  State  are  entitled  to. 

•  §  47.  They  may  contract  or  be  contracted  with.  Their  mar- 
riages with  .one  another,  and  even  with  white  people,  are  legal. 
They  may  purchase,  hold,  and  transmit,  by  descent,  real  estate. 

§  48.  They  are  entitled  to  protect  their  persons  by  action, 
indictment,  and  ttfe  writ  of  habeas  corpus. 

§  49.  Decided  in  the  court  of  appeals  that  insolence,  on  the 
part  of  a  free  negro,  would  not  excuse  an  assault  and  battery. 

CHAP.  II. — SLAVES. — Their  civil  rights,  liabilities  and  disa- 
bilities. 

§  11,  Act  1740.  Although  slaves  are  declared  to  be  chattels 
personal,  yet  they  are  also  in  our  law  considered  as  persona, 
with  njany  rights  and  liabilities,  civil  and  criminal. 

§  13.  The  right  of  protection  which  would  belong  to  a  slave, 
as  a  human  being,  is,  by  the  law  of  slaves,  transferred  to  the 
master. 

§  14.  A  master  may  protect  the  person  of  his  slave  from  in- 
jury by  repelling  force  with  force,  or  by  action,  and  in  some 
cases  by  indictment. 

§  15.  By  the  Act  of  1821,  the  murder  of  a  slave  is  declared 
to  be  a  felony  without  "benefit  of  clergy. 

§  16.  To  constitute  the  murder  of  a  slave  no  other  ingre-' 
dients  are  necessary  than  such  as  enter  into  the  offense  of  mur- 
der at  common  law.  So  the  killing  on  sudden  heat  and  passion 
is  the  same  as  manslaughter,  and  a  finding  by  the  jury  on  an 
indictment  for  the  murder  of  a  slave  of  a  killing  on  sudden  heat 
and  passion,  is  good,  and  subjects  the  offender  to  the  punishment 
of  the  Act. 

§  17.  An  attempt  to  kill  and  murder  a  slave — indictable  as 
an  assault,  with  an  intent  to  kill  and  murder. 

§  18.  By  the  Act  of  1841  the  unlawful  whipping  or  beat- 


292  APPENDIX. 

ing  of  any  slave — subjects  the  offender  to  imprisonment,  not 
exceeding  six  months,  and  fine  not  exceeding  $500. 

§  19.  What  is  sufficient  provocation  by  word  or  deed  is 
a  question  for  the  jury.  The  question  is,  whether,  as  slave- 
owners and  reasonable  men,  if  they  had  been  in  the  place  of 
the  defendant,  they  would  have  inflicted  the  whipping  or  beat- 
ing which  the  defendant  did. 

§  20.  The  Acts  of  1821  and  1841  are  eminently  wise,  just, 
and  humane.  They  protect  slaves  who  drfre  not  raise  their 
own  hands  in  defense  against  brutal  violence.  They  teach 
men  who  are  wholly  irresponsible  in  property  to  keep  their 
hands  off  the  property  of  other  people.  They  have  wiped  away 
a  shameful  reproach  upon  us  that  we  were  indifferent  to  the 
lives  and  persons  of  our  slaves.  They  have  had,  too,  a  most 
happy  effect  on  slaves  themselves.  They  know  now  that  the 
shield  of  the  law  is  over  them. 

§  23.  "When  a  slave  has  suffered  in  life  or  limb,  or  has  been 
cruelly  beaten  or  abused,  when  no  white  person  was  present, 
or,  being  present,  shall  neglect  or  refuse  to  give  evidence,  in 
every  such  case  the  owner  or  person  having  the  care  or  manage- 
ment of  the  slaves,  and  in  whose  possession  or  power  the  stares 
shall  be,  shall  be  adjudged  guilty  unless  he  can  make  the  con- 
trary appear  by  good  and  sufficient  evidence. 

§  25.  Requires  the  owners  of  slaves  to  provide  them  with 
sufficient  clothing,  covering,  and  food ; '  and  if  they  shall  fail  to 
do  so,  the  owners  respectively  are  declared  to  be  liable  to  "be 
informed  against  to  the  next  nearest  justice  of  the  peace,  who 
is  authorized  to  .hear  and  determine  the  complaint ;  and  if 
found  to  be  true,  or  in  the  absence  of  proof,  if  the  owner  will 
not  exculpate  himself  ~by  his  men  oath,  the  magistrate  may 
make  such  order  as  will  give  relief,  and  may  set  a  fine  not 
exceeding  £20  current  money  on  the  owner,  to  be  levied  by 
warrant  of  distress  and  sale  of  the  offender's  goods. 

Says  the  Judge :  this  provision  (leaving  out  the  exculpatory 


APPENDIX.  293 

part)  is  a  very  wise  and  humane  one,  except  that  the  penalty 
is  evidently  too  slight. 

§  27.  It  is  the  settled  law  of  this  State  that  no  owner  can 
abandon  a  slave  needing  either  medical  treatment,  care,  food, 
or  raiment.  If  he  does,  he  will  be  liable  to  any  one  who  may 
furnish  the  same.  In  the  language  of  Judge  Wilds,  an  emi- 
nent Christian  and  patriot :  "  The  law  would  infer  a  contract 
against  the  evidence  of  the  fact,  to  compel  a  cruel  and  capri- 
cious person  to  discharge  that  duty  which  he  ought  to  have 
performed  voluntarily.  For  as  the  master  is  bound  by  the 
most  solemn  obligation  to  protect  his  slave  from  suffering,  he 
is  bound  by  the  same  obligation  to  defray  the  expenses  or  ser- 
vices of  another  to  preserve  the  life  of  his  slave,  or  relieve  the 
slave  from  harm  and  danger.  The  slave  lives  for  his  master's 
service.  His  time,  his  labor,  his  comforts,  are  all  at  his  mas- 
ter's disposal.  The  duty  of  humane  treatment  and  medical 
assistance  ought  not  to  be  withholden." 

§  28.  Slaves  are  protected  from  labor  on  the  Sabbath-day. 
The  violation  of  the  law  in  this  respect  svfbjects  the  offender  to 
£5  for  every  slave  so  worked ;  and  the  29th  Section  to  a  fine 
of  £20  for  every  offense  of  working  them  longer  on  week-days 
than  the  law  allows. 

§  31.  A  slave  -may,  by  the  consent  of  his  master,  acquire 
and  hold  personal  property. 

§  41.  By  the  Act  of  1834,  slaves  are  prohibited  to  be  taught 
to  read  and  write.  This  act  grew  out  of  a  feverish  state  of  ex- 
citement produced  by  the  impudent  intermeddling  of  persons  out 
of  the  Slave  States,  with  our  peculiar  institutions.  That  has, 
however,  subsided,  and  I  trust  we  are  now  prepared  to  act  the 
part  of  wise,  humane,  and  fearless  masters,  and  that  this  law 
ind  all  of  kindred  character  will  ~be  repealed.  When  we  reflect 
as  Christians,  how  can  we  justify  it  that  a  slave  is  not  to  be 
permitted  to  read  the  Bible  ?  It  is  in  vain  to  say  there  is  dan- 
ger in  it.  The  best  slaves  in  the  State  are  those  who  can  and 
do  read  the  Scriptures.  Again,  who  is  it  that  teach  our  slaves 
to  read  ?  It  is  generally  done  by  the  children  of  the  owners. 


294  APPENDIX. 

Who  would  tolerate  an  indictment  against  his  son  or  daughter 
for  teaching  a  favorite  servant  to  read  ?  Such  laws  look  to  me 
as  rather  cowardly.  It  seems  as  if  we  were  afraid  of  our  slaves. 
Such  a  feeling  is  unworthy  of  a  master. 

CHAP.  III. — CRIMES. — Trial  and  Punishment 
§  1.  "When  a  slave  commits  a  crime  by  the  command  and 
coercion  of  the  master,  mistress,  employer,  or  overseer,  it  is  re- 
garded as  the  crime  of  the  master,  mistress,  employer,  or  over- 
seer, and  the  slave  is  not  criminally  answerable. 

§  8.  The  slave  may  strike  in  defense  of  the  person  or  pro- 
perty of  his  master  or  employer,  and  the  master  in  defense  of 
his  slave. 

§  23.  In  all  parts  of  the  State,  slaves  or  free  persons  of  color 
are  to  be  tried  for  all  offenses  by  a  magistrate  and  five  free- 
holders. Eight  to  be  summoned,  of  whom  the  slave  or  his 
master  may  select  five,  and  upon  good  cause  shown  against  any 
freeholder,  another  shall  be  substituted  in  his  place.  The 
jurors  to  be  sworn.  *The  slave  must  be  provided  with  an  ad- 
vocate by  the  magistrate,  if  necessary.  Right  of  new  trial,  etc. 
— always  time  to  obtain  pardon  before  the  infliction  of  the 
sentence. 

§  3-i.  A  slave  can  not  be  twice  tried  for  the  same  offense.    ' 
§  39.  Duty  of  the  master  of  the  work-house,  jailor,  or  sheriff 
to  provide  sufficient  food,  drink,  clothing,  and  covering  for  all 
runaways  delivered  into  their  custody. 

The  Judge  comments  upon  many  laws  upon  the  statute-book 
which  are  no  longer  enforced,  as  a  dishonor,  and  should  be  re- 
pealed, and  suggests  many  liberal  alterations. 

Touching  the  constant  liability  to  a  change  of  owners,  he 
remarks :  "  This  continual  change  of  the  relation  of  master  and 
slave,  with  the  consequent  rending  of  family  ties  among  them, 
has  induced  me  to  think,  that  if  by  law  they  were  annexed  to 
the  freeholds  of  the  owners,  and  when  sold  for  partition  among 
distributees,  tenants  in  common,  joint  tenants,  and  co»parce- 


APPENDIX.  295 

ners,  they  should  be  sold  with  the  freehold  and  not  otherwise ; 
it  might  be  a  wise  and  wholesome  change  of  the  law.  Some 
provision  too  might  be  made  which  would  prevent  in  a  great 
degree  sales  for  debt.  A  debtor's  lands  and  slaves  instead  of 
being  sold,  might  be  sequestered,  until  like  vivum  vadaum  they 
would  pay  all  his  debts  on  execution  by  the  accrued  profits." 

Against  the  late  Ami-Emancipation  laws,  he  says:  "My  ex- 
perience as  a  man  and  a  judge  leads  me  to  condemn  the  laws 
of  1820  and  1841.  They  have  done  more  harm  than  good,  and 
caused  evasions  without  number.  They  ought  to  be  repealed, 
and  the  law  of  1800  restored.  The  State  has  nothing  to  fear  from 
emancipation  as  that  law  directs.  Many  a  master  knows 
he  has  a  slave  or  slaves  for  whom  he  feels  it  to  be  his  duty  to 
provide.  As  the  law  now  stands,  that  can  not  be  done.  In  a 
slave  country  the  good  should  be  especially  rewarded.  Who 
are  judges  of  this  but  the  master  ?  Give  him  the  power  of 
emancipation,  under  well  regulated  guards,  and  he  can  dispense 
the  duty  which  both  he  and  his  slave  appreciate.  In  the 
present  state  of  the  world  it  is  especially  our  duty  and  that  of 
slave-owners  to  be  just  and  merciful,  and  in  all  things  to  be 
exceptions  majori.  With  well  regulated  and  mercifully  applied 
slave  laws  we  have  nothing  to  fear  for  negVo  slavery.  But  let 
me  assure  my  countrymen  and  fellow-slaveholders,  that  unjust 
laws  or  unmerciful  management  of  slaves  fall  upon  us  and  our 
institutions  with  more  cutting  effect  than  any  thing  else.  I 
would  see  Carolina,  the  friend,  master,  and  mistress  of  all  her 
people,  free  and  slave — to  all,  extending  justice  and  mercy.  As 
against  our  enemies  I  would  say,  be  just  and  fear  not." 

Concerning  those  State  laws  which  prohibited  religious  meet- 
ings of  slaves  without  the  presence  of  one  or  more  whites,  the 
Judge  says :  "  They  are  treated  now  as  dead  letters,  and  ought 
to  be  repealed.  They  operate  as  a  reproach  upon  us,  in  the 
mouths  of  our  enemies,  in  that  we  do  not  afford  our  slaves 
that  free  worship  of  God,  which  he  demands  for  all  his  people. 
This  was  never  intended." 


296  APPENDIX. 

The  law  which  forbade  slaves  to  own  "  horses,  mares,  cattle, 
sheep,  boats,  canoes,  or  peryaugers,"  is  obsolete.  "Certainly," 
says  the  Judge,  "no  legislator  now  would  venture  to  say  to  a 
master,  You  shall  not  allow  your  slave  to  have  a  canoe  to  fish 
with,  or  to  carry  vegetables  to  market,  or  that  he  should  not  be 
allowed  to  have  a  horse  to  attend  to  his  duties  as  a  stock-minder 
in  swamps,  or  that  a  family  of  slaves  should  not  have  a  cow  to 
furnish  them  milk,  or  a  hog  to  make  them  meat  beyond  their 
usual  allowance.  Experience  and  observation  fully  satisfy  me 
that  the  first  law  of  slavery  is  that  of  kindness  from  the  master 
to  the  slave.  With  this  properly  inculcated,  enforced  by  laws, 
and  judiciously  applied,  slavery  becomes  a  family  relation  next 
in  attachment  to  that  of  parent  and  child.  It  leads  to  influ- 
ences of  devotion  on  the  part  of  the  slave  which  would  do  honor 
to  the  heroism  of  Rome  itself." 

In  February,  1812,  Professor  Charles  Dewar  Simmons,  on 
his  return  from  Columbia  to  Charleston,  found  the  Haugha- 
bock  swamp  entirely  overflowing  the  road.  In  attempting  to 
cross  on  horseback  he  was  washed  off  the  road  and  separated 
from  his  horse.  He  first  succeeded  in  reaching  a  tree  ;  then 
constructed  a  raft  of  rails  tied  with  his  comfort.  Three  times 
his  slave  Marcus  swam  in  to  his  rescue.  His  master  cried  out 
to  him  :  "  You  can  not  help  me;  save  yourself."  But  Marcus 
persisted  in  efforts  to  save  his  master  until  they  perished  to- 
gether. 

(Traveling  a  few  years  since  by  stage,  in  Alabama,  my  atten- 
tion was  directed  to  a  plain  looking  man  conversing  by  the 
way-side  with  a  woman  of  color.  Then  followed  this  narration. 
The  white  man  was  the  owner  of  a  very  excellent  and  valu- 
able servant,  the  husband  of  the  woman  with  whom  he  was 
conversing.  He  was  a  skillful  artist,  the  builder  of  all  the  fine 
public  bridges  in  that  portion  of  the  State.  The  master  com- 
menced to  dissipate,  and  of  course  to  lose  his  fortune.  He 
loved  his  slave,  and  fearing  that  he  might  be  taken  for  debt, 
persuaded  the  Legislature  to  bestow  upon  him  the  privileges  of 
a  freeman.  He  increased  in  property  as  his  master  declined. 


APPENDIX. 

Ere  long  he  testified  his  attachment  to  his  master  by  relieving 
a  mortgage  upon  his  estate  to  the  amount  of  two  or  three 
thousand  dollars.  No  very  long  time  elapsed  before  the  freed 
man  advanced  and  paid  down  a  much  larger  sum  in  relief  of 
the  master's  growing  embarrassments.  "Whereupon  a  neighbor 
says  to  the  servant :  "  Jack,  you  fool !  Why  don't  you  take 
a  mortgage  on  your  master's  property  yourself?"  "Oh!" 
responds  the  noble-hearted  man:  "I  would  not  like  to  treat 
master  so."  Surrender  all  his  fortune  rather  than  subject  a 
kind  master  to  the  humiliation  of  suffering  a  sense  of  legal  de- 
pendence upon  one  who  was  once  his  slave.) 

This  glance  at  the  slave  laws  of  four  States,  un-selected — two 
in  the  Northern  and  two  in  the  Southern  portion  of  the  terri- 
tory of  the  South,  will  give  us  a  fair  view  of  the  fair  side  of 
Southern  slave  legislation. 


CHAP.  II. — NORTHERN  SLAVE  LAW. 

Let  us  now  direct  our  attention  to  another  aspect  of  this 
subject,  and  observe  how  naturally  our  slaveholding  fathers 
of  the  North  fell  into  the  very  same  class  of  apparently  cruel 
legislation,  which  in  the  Sout7i  the  Anti-Slavery  spirit  of  this 
day  would  fain  represent  as  a  series  of  barbarities  unparalleled 
and  insufferable. 

"What  estimate  shall  we  form  of  the  love  of  freedom,  the 
genuine  liberty-spirit  of  our  forefathers  ?  Great  efforts  are 
made,  very  naturally,  to  exalt  the  character  of  our  Northern 
ancestors  in  this  respect.  After  all,  it  must  be  confessed  that 
their  spirit  of  liberty  makes  a  very  ambiguous  demonstration 
both  in  the  history  and  in  the  enactments  of  their  early  days. 

I.  History.  In  1641,  Massachusetts  held  the  doctrine,  dis- 
tinctly in  her  statute  laws,  "that  lawful  captives"  "taken  in 
j>/st  wars"  were  " rightfully  reduced  iolond-slavery"  (See 
Ancient  Charters,  and  Colony  and  Provincial  Laws  of  Mass., 
ch.  xii.)  She  practised  upon  this  doctrine  and  made  slaves 
13* 


298  APPENDIX. 

of  the  Indians.  And  so  did  the  other  New-England  States. 
At  the  close  of  the  great  Indian  war  in  Connecticut,  in  1676, 
Council  met  at  Hartford  to  decide  what  should  be  done 
with  the  many  prisoners  on  hand  and  with  the  many  others 
who  had  surrendered  themselves.  They  sent  for  Uncos,  a 
friendly  chief,  and  said  :  "  The  war  was  the  English's,  and  the 
benefit  should  be  theirs."  To  this  Uncas  cheerfully  consented, 
acknowledging  "  that  all  the  prisoners  and  surrenderors  were 
theirs  to  dispose  of  at  will."  The  Council  ordered  "that  the 
right  and  division  of  the  captives  be  left  to  the  decision  and 
determination  of  (three  men)  who  are  to  dispose  of  the  said 
captives,  whether  they  be  in  the  hands  of  the  Pequods,  Mihoags, 
or  Naragansetts,  to  such  persons  to  whom  they  of  right  do 
belong,  according  as  the  claimers  shall  make  demands." 
(Trumb.  Col.  Rec.,  473.) 

Like  Africa,  New-England  shipped  her  prisoners  to  become 
slaves  in  foreign  lands.  At  the  close  of  the  fight  of  the  Great 
Swamp,  July  13,  1637,  between  the  Pequod  Indians  and  the 
Connecticut  and  Massachusetts  troops,  it  is  said  ''that  the 
Pequod  women  and  children,  who  had  been  captivated,  were 
divided  among  the  troops.  Some  were  carried  to  Connecticut ; 
others  to  Massachusetts.  The  people  of  Massachusetts  sent  a 
number  of  the  women  and  boys  to  the  West-Indies  and  sold  them 
for  slaves."  (Trumbull's  Con.,  vol.  i.,  85.) 

Where  were  their  sisters,  husbands,  and  fathers?  New- 
England  had  no  great  conscience  against  dividing  families 
when  she  held  slaves.  No  Southern  master  ever  separated 
them  so  hopelessly.  But  New-England  traveled  much  farther 
than  this  in  the  violation  of  the  liberty-principle  of  the  present 
day,  and  probably  farther  than  any  Christian  nation  ever  tres- 
passed. Parties  who  were  not  "  lawful  captives  in  just  wars" — 
and  who  probably  had  never  been  condemned  after  regular  trial 
by  a  high  court — by  statutory  regulation,  Connecticut  allowed 
to  be  seized  and  transported  to  foreign  parts  to  be  disposed  of 
as  slaves  in  exchange  for  slaves.  The  Indians,  a  little  restiv  a 


APPENDIX.  299 

under  the  discipline  of  the  justice  and  freedom  which  New- 
England  slave-laws  administered,  very  naturally  became  trou- 
blesome, and  retaliated.  Thereupon  the  Connecticut  statute 
ran  thus :  "As  it  will  be  chargeable  to  keep  Indians  in  prison, 
and  if  they  should  escape  they  are  likely  to  bear  more  malice, 
it  was  thought  fit  that  the  magistrates  of  the  jurisdiction  de- 
liver up  the  Indians  seized  to  the  party  or  parties  endamaged, 
either  to  serre  or  to  be  shipped  out  and  exchanged  for  neagers, 
as  the  case  will  justly «bear."  (Trumbull's  Col.  Rec.,  532.) 

In  one  law  here  is  slave-making,  slave-exporting,  and  slave- 
importing,  and  hopeless  family  rupture. 

In  1764,  certain  merchants  of  Boston  addressed  to  the  Gene- 
ral Assembly  of  Connecticut  an  elaborate  document,  whose 
"  sixth"  point  the  State  librarian  has  been  kind  enough  to  put 
in  my  possession.  It  objects  to  "  the  destruction  of  the  fishery" 
that  it  will  prejudice  the  whole  trade  of  the  Province.  Amongst 
others,  one  branch  of  this  trade  is  represented  as  of  great  im- 
portance. The  Northern  colonies  supply  Surinam  and  the 
other  Dutch  settlements  almost  wholly  with  all  manner  of  pro- 
visions, "  for  which  we  receive  molasses  in  return ;  this  is  dis- 
tilled into  rum-,"  and  devoted  to  three  uses — "  for  the  fishery — 
to  export  to  the  Southern  colonies — and  to  Africa,  to  purchase 
slates  for  our  own  islands  in  the  West-Indies" 

Thus  New-England  not  only  imported  and  exported,  but 
transported  slaves,  and  this  sometimes  by  distributing  an  ar- 
ticle almost  as  contraband  in  our  day  as  slavery  itself 

It  is  true,  she  made  loud  protestations  of  her  abhorrence  of 
the  crime. 

In  1646,  the  General  Court  of  Massachusetts  conceiving 
themselves  bound  by  the  first  opportunity  to  bear  witness 
against  the  heinous  and  crying  sin  of  manstealing,  etc.,  "  do 
provide  for  the  release  of  certain  negroes  unlawfully  taken"  and 
for  their  return  "at  the  charge  of  the  country,"  to  their  native 
region  of  Guinea,  and  a  letter  with  them  "  of  the  indignation 
of  the  court  themselves."  (Ancient  Charters,  etc.,  ch.  xii.) 


300  APPENDIX. 

And  yet,  long  after  this,  in  1Y08,  The  same  General  Court 
enact  that  a  duty  of  four  pounds  per  head  shall  be  paid  for 
"every  negro  or  negroes"  hereafter  imported.  But  if  any 
negro  so  imported  shall  be  again  exported  within  twelve 
months,  the  whole  duty  is  to  be  returned.  And  the  like  draw- 
•back  is  allowed  the  purchaser  in  case  any  negro  sold  him  die 
within  six  months  after  importation.  (Ibid.,  Appendix,  ch.  xix.) 

These  two  extremes,  Anti-slavery  and  Pro-slavery,  are 
brought  together,  in  1641,  by  a  Massachusetts  statute  as  violent- 
ly suicidal  as  was  ever  recorded  by  a  law-making  b^iy.  It 
runs  thus:  "It  is  ordered  by  this  court  and  the  authority 
thereof,  that  there  shall  never  be  any  bond-slavery,  villanage, 
or  captivity  amongst  us — (Had  the  Legislature  stopped  here, 
the  anti-slavery  type  of  the  law  would  not  have  been  objected 
to  by  the  extremest  abolitionist ;  and  what  pro-slavery  man  at 
the  South  is  not  as  well  suited  by  the  residue  of  the  very  same 
sentence  of  the  very  same  law  ?)— unless  it  be  lainful  captives 
taken  in  just  wars,  or  such  strangers  as  sell  themselves  to  vs, 
or  are  sold  to  us:  provided,  this  exempts  none  from  servitude 
who  shall  be  judged  thereto  by  authority.'1''  (Ancient  Char- 
ters, ch.  xii.)  Surely  liberty  neither  thought  nor  breathed  in 
Massachusetts  on  the  day  when  its  assembled  intelligence  and 
authority  commanded  that  there  should  be  no  slavery  amongst 
us,  unless  it  be  in  one  way  or  in  another. 

How  it  must  Shock  the  ultra  liberty  spirit  of  the  day  to  call 
to  mind  a  certain  officer  constituted  by  ancient  society.  u  Every 
city,  town,  or  manor  may  appoint"  a  COMMON  WHIPPER  ;  who 
"  shall  receive  a  salary,  not  to  exceed  three  shillings  per  head, 
for  each  slave  whipped."  (Laws  of  New- York,  1691.) 

II.  The  liberty  spirit  of  our  Northern  ancestors  is  yet  more 
seriously  implicated  by  all  manner  of  special  enactments. 

What  possible  aspect  of  Liberty  in  the  eye  of  the  strongest 
Reformer  did  not  the  pro-slavery  laws  of  the  North  violently 
•impugn  ? 

1.  The  right  of  &free  nature. 


>   APPENDIX. 


The  laws  of  Massachusetts,  Connecticut,  Rhode  Island,  New- 
York,  New- Jersey,  etc.,  assume  the  fact  that  the  complexion 
of  a  negro  or  a  mulatto  is  prima  facie  evidence  that  the  party 
is  a  slave.  .  ^ 

2.  The  strongest  conviction  of  man's  right  to  the  freedom  of 
his  nature,  a  Reformer  would  express  in  this  language :  No 
man  has  a  right  to  make  "a  chattel"  of  his  fellow-man.     The 
strongest  right  of  property  in  man  which  I  remember  to  have 
encountered,  was  enacted  or  conceded  by  the  slave  legislation 
of  the  North.     In  all  free  governments,  when  no  offense  has 
been  committed,  private  property  can  not  be  taken  for  public 
uses  without  due  compensation.     It  is  probably  quite  as  uni- 
versal, that  all  title  to  property  is  destroyed,  when  tkat  pro- 
perty is  demanded  by  government  for  violation  of  law.     In 
the  case  of  fines  inflicted  for  offenses  committed,  of  articles  for- 
feited by  the  violation  of  revenue  or  other  laws,  of  estates,  in 
revolutionary  times,  confiscated  for  treason,  etc.,  etc.,  the  law 
destroys  all  right  of  property  in  chattels  thus  demanded  by 
government.     But  in  early  times,  when  violation  of  law  de- 
manded the  life  of  the  slave,  the  chattel  property  of  the  mas- 
ter survived,  and  the  law  itself  acknowledged  that  it  could 
not  destroy  it.     The  Act  of  the  Assembly  of  New-Jersey  passed 
in  1704,  required  that  "  The  owner  of  every  man-slave  executed 
should  receive  £30 ;  and  for  every  woman  slave,  £20." 

3.  The  right  of  free  birth. 

By  a  New- York  law  passed  April,  1691,  it  was  declared  that 
"  Every  child  born  of  a  slave  mother  shall  follow  the  state  and 
condition  of  the  mother  !"  Such  was  the  law  of  Connecticut, 
Rhode  Island,  and  most  if  not  all  the  Northern  States  at  one 
time. 

4.  The  right  to  choose  one's  residence. 

No  person,  being  an  African  or  negro  (other  than  a  subject 
of  the  Emperor  of  Morocco,  or  a  citizen  of  some  one  of  the 
United  States)  shall  tarry  within  this  Commonwealth  for  a 
longer  term  than  two  months.  "  If  he  do  so,  he  is  to  be  im- 


302  .    APPENDIX.  . 

prisoned  ?n  the  house  of  correction,  and  kept  at  hard  labor  till 
next  session  of  the  peace,  when,  if  convicted  of  the  offense,  he 
shall  be  whipped,  not  exceeding  ten  stripes,  and  ordered  to  de- 
part out  of  the  Commonwealth  within  ten  days ;  if  he  does 
not,  the  slraie  course  to  be  pursued  toties  quoties."  (1788. 
Laws  of  Mass.,  vol.  1.) 

Thus,  if  a  -human  being  having  any  other  than  a  white 
complexion,  should  dare  to  seek  a  home  on  the  free  soil  of 
Massachusetts,  he  shall  be  forthwith  imprisoned,  worked  hard, 
whipped,  and  ordered  off.  Should  he  refuse  to  go,  he  is  to  be 
imprisoned,  worked  hard,  and  whipped  until  he  submits  to 
ignominious  banishment. 

5.  The  right  of  locomotion. 

"  Every  slave  found  out  of  the  town,  or  place  where  he  re- 
sides, shall  be  deemed  a  runaway,  and  any  person  inhabiting 
the  State  is  empowered  to  seize  and  secure  him,  carry  him 
before  a  justice,  who  shall  order  him  to  be  whipped."  "Any 
free  negro  found  without  a  pass,  may  be  taken  up  by  any  one, 
carried  before  a  justice,  and  compelled  to  pay  all  charges." 
(Laws  of  Conn.,  passed  during  the  Confederation.) 

"  If  a  slave  be  found  from  home  after  nine  o'clock  in  the 
evening,  any  free  person  may  seize  him  or  her,  bring  them 
before  a  justice,  and  he  shall  sentence  them  to  be  whipped  on 
Jhe  naked  body."  (Ibid.) 

"Whereas  great  disorders  are  oftentimes  raised  in  the  night- 
time by  Indians,  negroes,  and  mulattoes,  servants,  slaves,  etc., 
it  is  provided  that  none  of  these  shall  be  abroad  after  nine 
o'clock  at  night,  unless  upon  some  errand  for  their  masters ; 
otherwise  they  "are  to  be  arrested  and  subjected  to  the  disci- 
pline of  the  house  of  correction.  (Mass.  Ancient  Charters, 
App.,  ch.  xvi.  3.) 

Any  person  finding  a  slave  five  miles  from  home  without  a 
written  passport,  is  authorized  to  take  up  the  slave,  and  whip 
him  or  her ;  or  order  the  whipping  on  the  bare  back,  not  ex- 
ceeding twenty  lashes,  and  shall  have  for  his  reward  five  shil- 


„      APPENDIX.  803 

lings  for  every  one  taken  up  as  aforesaid,  with  reasonable 
charge  for  carrying  them  to  their  homes,  to  be  recovered  of  the 
owner  as  any  other  debt.  (Laws  New-Jersey,  1704.) 

If  a  slave  belonging  to  one  province  goes  into  another  with- 
out a  passport,  any  free  person  is  empowered  to  take  him  or 
her  up,  carry  them  to  the  nearest  constable,  and  have  him  or 
her  whipped  on  the  bare  back,  not  exceeding  twenty  lashes. 
The  person  so  taking  them  up,  shall  have  for  reward  ten  shil- 
lings in  money  for  each  slave,  the  constable  three  shillings  for 
whipping  each,  to  be  paid  by  the  owner,  the  slave  retained  in 
prison  until  ah1  reasonable  charges  are  paid.  (Ibid.j 

If  a  ferryman  carry  a  slave  who  has  no  passport,  he  may  be 
fined  twenty  shillings  for  the  first  offense,  and  forty  shillings 
ever  after  for  each  offense.  (Conn.  Conf.) 

6.  The  right  of  personal  security. 

Hereafter  it  shall  and  may  be  lawful  for  any  master  or  mis- 
tress, to  punish  his,  her,  or  their  slaves,  at  discretion,  for  crimes 
and  offenses,  not  extending  to  life  or  limb.  (New- York,  1730.) 

7.  The  right  of  self-defense. 

Every  negro,  Indian,  or  other  slave,  that  shall  be  found 
guilty  of  talking  impudently  to  any  Christian,  shall  suffer  so 
many  stripes,  at  some  public  place,  as  the  justice  of  the  peace 
in  such  place  shall  think  fit,  not  exceeding  forty,  every  law, 
custom,  or  usage,  to  the  contrary  notwithstanding,  (New- 
York,  1691.) 

Should  a  slave  presume  to  assault  or  strike  a  free  man  or 
a  woman,  professing  Christianity,  a  justice  of  the  peace  may 
direct  such  corporal  punishment  as  he  may  think  meet  or 
reasonable,  not  extending  to  life  or  limb.  (New- York,  Ibid.) 

If  a  slave  presume  to  strike  a  free  man  or  woman,  any  two 
justices  of  the  peace  may  authorize  such  corporal  punishment 
as  they  may  see  meet,  not  extended  to  life  or  limb.  (Laws  of 
New- Jersey,  1704.) 

If  any  negro  or  mulatto  shall  presume  to  smite  or  strike  any 
Christian,  he  shah1  be  severely  whipped.  (Mass.,  1705.) 


301  APPENDIX. 

If  a  slave  shall  conspire  to  kill  or  murder,  he  shall  suffer  the 
pain  of  death,  in  such  manner  as  the  aggravation  or  enormity 
of  the  crime,  in  the  judgment  of  the  justice,  shall  merit  or  re- 
quire. (New- Jersey,  1704.) 

"What  a  malignant,  unguarded  law!  The  slave  does  not 
perpetrate  murder;  he  simply  conspires  against  the  life  of 
his  master.  The  statute  seems  to  feel  that  hanging  is  too  good 
for  him.  What  power  to  oppress  is  put  into  the  hands  of  a 
passionate  or  cruel  justice !  The  slave  must  die  any  horrid 
death  that  one  man,  the  very  lowest  officer  of  the  State,  may 
choose  to  inflict.  (Compare  Southern  Laws.) 

8.  The  right  to  transact  business. 

No  person  shall  trade  or  traffic  with  a  slave  without  consent 
of  the  owner,  on  pain  of  forfeiting  treble  the  value  of  the  thing 
traded  for,  and  the  sum  of  £5  with  costs,  and  the  contract  shall 
be  utterly  void.  (New-York,  1691.) 

Any  free  person  who  shall  presume  to  trade  with  a  slave, 
shall  return  whatever  he  receives,  and  forfeit  and  pay  double 
the  value  over  and  above ;  and  if  the  person  so  offending  be 
unable  or  shall  neglect  to  make  restoration,  he  shall  be  publicly 
whipped  as  the  court  may  order.  (Conn.  Confederation.) 

9.  The  right  of  equality. 

Northern  laws  violated  this  right  in  every  possible  form. 

Civil  equality.  They  denied  to  the  man  of  color  all  the 
franchises  of  citizenship.  They  were  neither  permitted  to  vote 
nor  to  hold  any  post  of  honor,  profit,  or  trust 

Military  equality.  In  1707,  Massachusetts  passed  an  act  for 
the  regulation  of  free  negroes,  etc.,  which  ran  thus :  "  "Whereas, 
in  the  several  towns,  (etc.,)  within  this  province  there  are  several 
free  negroes  and  mulattoes,  able  of  body  and  fit  to  labor,  who 
are  not  charged  toith  training,  watching,  and  other  services  re- 
quired by  her  Majesty's  subjects,  whereof  they  have  share  in  the 
benefits,  it  is  provided  that  they  shall  do  service  equivalent,  in 
repairing  highways,  cleaning  streets,  and  the  like,  and  they  aro 
to  pay  five  shillings  per  day  for  neglect 


APPENDIX.  305 

In  case  of  alarm,  they  are  to  appear  at  the  parade  of  the 
military,  and  do  such  service  as  was  required  by  the  first  com- 
missioned officer,  on  pain  of  forfeiting  twenty  shillings,  or 
doing  eight  days'  work  as  aforesaid. 

If  they  can  not  pay  fines  as  aforesaid,  or  shall  not  perform 
labor  as  aforesaid — shall  be  sent  to  the  house  of  correction,  re- 
ceive its  discipline,  and  work  double  the  number  of  days 
assigned,  or  at  the  rate  of  one  day  for  every  shilling  in  the 
fine.  (Mass.  Charter,  ch.  xcvi.) 

Penal  equality.  For  tumultuous  and  disorderly  conduct 
when  the  white  man  was  fined — imprisoned,  "if  the  offender 
shall  be  a  negro  servant,  in  lieu  of  imprisonment  he  may  be 
whipped."  The  same  discrimination  for  similar  offenses. 
(Temporal  Acts,  Boston,  Ed.  1773.) 

By  the  law  of  New- York,  1788,  where  the  white  man  was 
fined  £5,  the  free  negro  was  compelled  to  pay  £10  for  the  same 
offense. 

By  a  Massachusetts  law,  1698,  the  Indian,  mulatto,  or  negro, 
who  trafficked  in  stolen  goods,  "  shall  be  whipped  not  exceed- 
ing twenty  lashes,  and  also  be  prosecuted  for  theft." 

This  law  would  seem  to  reverse  the  order  of  justice.  First 
punish  and  then  try. 

Testifying  equality.  No  slave  shall  be  admitted  as  a  witness, 
except  in  criminal  cases  against  each  other.  (New- York,  1788.) 

Equality  of  indulgence.  No  person  who  is  or  shall  be 
licensed  to  be  an  innholder,  shall  suffer  any  apprentice,  servant, 
or  negro  to  sit  drinking  in  his  or  her  house,  or  to  have  any 
manner  of  drink  there  without  leave  of  the  master.  (Laws  of 
Mass,  for  1692-1751,  p.  94.) 

Social  equality.  No  more  than  three  slaves  shall  meet  for 
any  purpose  except  for  servile  labor,  upon  the  penalty  of  forty 
stripes  on  the  naked  back.  (New-York^l691.)  This  statute 
would  seem  to  interdict  amongst  blacks  social  worship  and 
school-teaching. 

Christian  equality.    Massachusetts  passed  a  law  in  1705,  in 


306  APPENDIX. 

which  such  language  as  this  is  found :  "  If  a  negro  or  mulatto 
commit  fornication  with  a  Christian  woman,"  etc.  Again: 
"  If  a  Christian  commit  fornication  with  a  negro  or  mulatto 
woman,"  etc.  Again:  "No  Christian  within  this  province 
shall  contract  marriage  with  any  negro  or  mulatto."  This 
statute  not  only  assumes  that  negroes  and  mulattoes  are  slaves, 
but  seems  to  regard  them  as  pagans,  especially  by  alluding  to 
the  whites  as  "  the  English  or  other  Christian  nation." 

10.  The  right  of  extending  sympathy  and  aid  to  the  op- 
pressed. 

If  any  person  entertain  or  tolerate  any  slave  in  his  house 
after  nine  o'clock  in  the  evening,  he  shall  pay  ten  shillings  for 
the  £rst  offense ;  and  whatever  increase  or  addition  a  justice  of 
the  peace  may  think  proper  ever  after.  (Conn.  Confederation.) 

Any  person  concealing  any  slave  shall  forfeit  forty  shillings 
for  every  time  so  concealed  or  entertained ;  and  if  any  person 
whatsoever  shall  be  found  guilty  of  harboring,  entertaining,  or 
concealing  any  slave,  or  assisting  to  convey  them  away,  if  such 
slave  shall  happen  to  be  lost,  dead,  or  otherwise  rendered  un- 
serviceable, such  person  harboring,  concealing,  or  assisting 
shall  be  liable  to  pay  the  value  of  such  slave  to  the  owner.  To 
be  collected  by  action  for  debt  (New- Jersey,  1704.) 

The  New-York  law  almost  verbatim.     1788. 

In  1822.  For  concealing  a  slave,  or  assisting  in  his  escape, 
New-York  law  inflicted  a  fine  of  $300,  to  be  recovered  by  ac- 
tion of  debt 

If  any  person  shall  conceal  any  negro  or  mulatto  slave,  or 
shall  in  any  manner  assist  such  slave  in  escaping  from  the  law- 
ful authority  of  his  or  her  master,  the  person  so  offending  shall 
forfeit  and  pay  the  sum  of  $300,  to  be  recovered  by  action  of 
debt.  (Laws  of  Rhode  Island,  1822.) 

The  New-York  statute  of  1788  went  further  still,  and  enact- 
ed: Any  person  knowing  that  a  slave  is  or  has  been  entertained 
or  secreted  by  any  other  person,  and  does  not  make  it  know  n, 
shall  forfeit  two  pounds  If  he  neglect  to  pay¥  or  is  unable  to 


APPENDIX.  807 

pay,  he  shall  be  imprisoned  until  he  pays  forty  shillings  and 
all  costs.     Harder  legislation  this  than  the  Fugitive  Slave  Law. 

11.  Right  of  the  master's  emancipation  spirit  to  all  legal 
encouragement. 

"Whereas  great  charge  and  inconvenience  have  arisen  to 
divers  towns  and  places  by  the  releasing  and  setting  at  liberty 
mulatto  and  negro  slaves ;"  it  is*  provided,  that  no  mulatto  or 
negro  slave  shall  be  manumitted  until  sufficient  security  be 
given  to  the  town  treasurer  that  the  same  shall  not  become  a 
town  charge.  And  no  slave  shall  be  accounted  free  hereafter 
for  whom  such  security  shall  not  be  given.  (Mass.  Charter, 
App.,  ch.  xviii.) 

Slaves  set  free  to  be  maintained  by  the  late  owner.  If  he 
refuse,  to  be  relieved  by  selectmen  of  the  town,  who  shall  re- 
cover the  charge  of  the  owner  on  execution.  (Conn.,  1718.) 

By  the  law  of  New-Jersey,  none  to  be  manumitted  unless 
security  given  for  the  payment  of  twenty  pounds  annually. 

And  be  it  further  enacted,  That  if  any  shall  bring  into  this 
State  any  slave  or  slaves,  with  the  intent  that  they  may  there- 
by become  free,  or  shall  be  aiding  or  abetting  therein,  he  or  she  • 
so  offending  shall  forfeit  the  sum  of  $300  for  each  slave  so 
brought,  etc.,  to  be  recovered  by  action  of  debt.  (Rhode 
Island,  1822.) 

CONCLUSION. 

In  reviewing  this  rapid  comparison  of  Northern  and  South- 
ern legislation  on  the  subject  of  slavery,  a  few  reflections  pre 
sent  themselves. 

1.  To  the  credit  of  the  North  it  should  be  heartily  acknow- 
ledged that  she  has  long  since  abolished  the  institution  of 
slavery. 

2.  It  should  be  allowed,  too,  that  at  the  period  of  her  excep- 
tionable legislation  and  conduct  upon  this  subject,  the  diffusion 
of  Christian  light  upon  associated  topics  was  far  less  extensive 
than  at  present.- 


308  APPENDIX. 

And  yet  in  rigid  justice,  two  things  should  not  be  forgotten. 

1.  It  detracts  from  the  merit  of  her  abolition  of  the  institu- 
tion within  her  borders,  that  the  North  never  was  as  exten- 
sively involved  as  was  the  South  ;  nor  was  the  pecuniary  pros- 
perity of  the  country  ever  so  dependent  upon  the  preservation 
of  the  institution  as  that  of  the  South  has  been  from  the  day 
of  its  introduction.     These  thoughts  should  have  their  weight, 
and  with  a  good  man  will  not.  fail  of  their  influence.     Had 
the  appeal  of  slavery  to  covetousness  been  as  strong  and  con- 
tinuous at  the  North  as  at  the  South,  had  the  labor  of  the 
slave  from  the  beginning  been  every  way  as  profitable  in  the 
Northern  as  in  the  Southern  field,  no  man  would  dare  to  say 
that  the  liberty-principle  of  the  North  would  have  been  as  pre-  ' 
valent  to-day  in  this  latitude  as  it  is.     Had  the  South  no  more 
slaves  to  dispose  of  in  earlier  days  than  the  North  had,  and  no 
greater  compensation  for  keeping  them,  no  man  can  reasonably 
affirm  that  she  would  not  have  been  to-day  as  decidedly  Anti- 
Slavery  as  he  could  desire. 

2.  It  detracts  from  the  credit  allowed  for  the  comparative 
•darkness  of  the  period  in  which  Northern   legislation  and 

agency  affronted  the  spirit  of  liberty,  that  while  the  offenses  of 
the  North  surpassed  the  offenses  of  the  South,  the  moral  intel- 
ligence of  the  North  was  equally  superior  to  that  of  the  South. 
I  acknowledge  myself  unprepared  to  express  a  confident  judg- 
ment upon  the  subject.  I  have  no  such  extensive  induction  of 
facts  before  me  as  brings  assurance  to  my  own  mind.  From  a 
partial  and  rapid  survey  of  the  field,  the  truth  would  seem  to 
lie  in  the  neighborhood  of  this  statement  The  transgressions 
of  the  South  upon  the  subject  of  slavery  are  mainly  limited  to 
three  points — reception,  retention,  and  defective  legislation  and 
management  For  aught  known  to  me,  the  North  have  been 
the  only,  certainly  the  principal  slave  importers  and  slave  ex- 
porters, and  (from  one  foreign  port  to  another)  slave  transport- 
ers ;  I  may  add,  the  principal,  probably  the  only,  slate-makers, 
6W,tutory  justifiers  of  slave-making,  and  practical  abettors  of 


APPENDIX.  809 

the  doctrine  of  a  chattelism  in  man  impregnable  to  the  claim  of 
government  for  violation  of  law. 

Surely  a  calm,  candid  comparison  of  Northern  and  Southern 
history  and  legislation  upon  the  subject  of  slavery,  should-  tem- 
per the  Anti-Slavery  asperities  of  the  North.  If  when  the  * 
North  held  slaves  they  felt  themselves  driven  to  preserve  the 
peace  of  society  by  subjecting  their  inferiors  to  the  discipline  of 
a  severe  code  of  laws,  though  they  had  but  few  to  molest  them 
— they  should  look  with  more  toleration  upon  their  Southern 
neighbors,  who  are  certainly  managing  a  much  larger  number 
of  them  with  a  much  more  benign  hand.  If  so  long  as  slavery 
opened  a  door  of  profit  to  the  North,  she  found,  in  conscience, 
a  very  feeble  barrier  against  the  largest  kind  of  trading,  and 
the  severest  kind  of  management,  she  should  sometimes  recall 
this  fact  when  addressing  her  moral  appeals  to  the  South  at  a 
time  when  slaveholding  has  almost  become  the  life  of  the  land. 
If  it  took  one  Northern  State,  after  the  work  was  commenced, 
th«  space  of  sixty-four  years  to  emancipate  3000  slaves,  the 
North  should  not  demand  of  the  South  that  she  free  her, 
8,000,000  in  a  day.  If  the  North  exercised  her  own  unmo- 
lested judgment  and  will  as  to  the  time  and  method  of  emanci- 
pating her  own  slaves,  in  her  abundant  dealing  with  the  South, 
some  little  respect  for  the  independence  of  her  neighbor  in  the 
conduct  of  her  own  business  should  hardly  be  deemed  out  of 
place. 


E. 

REV.  E.  J.  PIERCE,  of  the  Gaboon  Mission,  in  a  letter  to  this 
country,  says  of  the  book  entitled,  THE  SOUTH-SIDE  VIEW  OP 
SLAVERY : 

"  Doubtless  you  hear  from  many  with  respect  to  this  book, 
and  from  many  parts  of  the  country,  and  it  may  be  from  many 
parts  of  the  world  ;  but  I  venture  to  say,  not  from  many  parts 


310  APPENDIX. 

of  Africa.  I  think  at  times,  my  companion  (Rev.  J.  BEST)  and 
myself,  are  ready  to  exclaim :  Would  that  all  Africa  were  at 
the  South.  Would  that  villages  and  tribes  of  these  poor  people 
could  be  induced  to  emigrate  to  our  Southern  country,  and  be 
placed  under  the  influences  which  the  slaves  enjoy.  My  brother 
thinks  that  he  would  sooner  run  the  risk  of  a  good  or  lad  master, 
and  be  a  slate  at  the  South,  than  to  be  as  one  of  these  heathen 
people.  He  refers,  when  he  thus  speaks,  both  to  his  temporal 
and  eternal  welfare. 

"  If  the  North  and  the  South  would  only  work  together  in 
love,  and  adopt  the  plan  of  colonizing  this  part  of  the  country 
with  free  blacks  from  the  North,  and  freed  men  from  the  South, 
for  the  colored  man  at  home,  how  good  it  would  be  !  We  must 
change  our  manner  and  tone  with  regard  to  the  South,  and 
study  ways  to  accomplish  it  May  the  Lord  make  that  book 
the  instrument  of  doing  much  to  effect  this  change!" — New* 
York  Observer,  Feb.  21,  186G. 


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